


Paper Planes

by orphan_account



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Azura is dead for some reason, Crying, Drunk crying, F/F, F/M, Feels, Fire Emblem - Freeform, Gay, I don't know how tags work, I lied, M/M, Mild cussing, Modern AU, Multiple chapters, NOHRIAN SCUM, Okay I'll stop now, Past Tense, PostWar, Revelations, So is everyone, Spoilers, Summer Vacation, Unrequited Love, first fic, have I established that there is crying, like help please, like it's Hoshido not Hoshidont, many international hookups, niles is an asshole, no like really gay, not drunk crying, okay I'm actually done now, okay a lot of cussing, slightly changed storyline/backstories, so is Corrin, third person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-11 14:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10467618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After two years of fighting, the war between Hoshido and Nohr has finally ended. It's summertime, and thanks to two more than eccentric twins, both royal families and (most of) their retainers have been invited to a hotel bordering the two countries. Along the mountains nearby, the two shapeshifters who had lended their support to the war effort return home as well.But if this is truly the end of the violence and bloodshed... Why is it so hard for everyone to cope with what's going on? It's finally over, isn't it?For some people, a blank piece of paper is just that.For others... it's their everything.





	1. June 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I've never really posted fanfic online before, so bear with me. I have a goal for this story, and that goal is 61 chapters (maybe a post section, yaaay goals). I really hope you like this ;w; it's been super fun to write so far!  
> I messed with some stuff. Azura is dead (don't ask why, I know she doesn't die in Revelations). I also might play with some character backstories to make them fit with the AU.  
> Hope you like it, and feel free to give feedback~

The treaty could say that the war was over all it wanted. That didn't change anything.

  
A Nohrian was still a Nohrian, and a Hoshidan was still a Hoshidan. A wolfskin was a wolfskin, and a kitsune was a kitsune. A royal was a royal, and a commoner was a commoner. It would always be that way, no matter how buddy-buddy the two got. They were as different as night and day, in some cases almost literally (because seriously, Nohr was unnaturally dark, like, all the time. What even).

  
Countless years of tension had led to two years of war, and if it weren't for three royals desperate to save their families, who could say how many more would have been lost?

  
In the end, though, peace was made, people went home to their families, and everything was just fine and dandy.

  
...Right up until personal issues got in the way of a lovely summer away from irritation, memories, and grief, when the only thing anyone wanted to do was forget the person sitting beside them, because remembering them meant remembering all the feelings that came with it. Right up until sixty days of paper airplanes.

  
Because no matter what differences hung in the balance of peace, trust, and respect come the warm season’s end, a person was just a person.

  
And who needed to be reminded of anything more?

___________________________

The border between the two kingdoms was a long chain of mountains, which dipped in the middle to form a ground-level valley of sorts. This valley was just the right size for several small villages on either side, and a private, extravagant resort smack-dab in the middle of neutral territory. Marble carvings, a water fountain in the courtyard, a hedge maze in the garden- but it still held all the modern necessities of the time. It held over fifty rooms, but was built specifically for one party of paying customers at a time. Thanks to a bit of interference from two particularly sneaky twins, the owner had sent out invitations to both royal families, inviting them and their retainers to spend a month there during the summer free of charge due to “ending the war and all that.” Both groups politely and gratefully obliged, receiving… Mixed signals on both ends of the spectrum.

  
“Kamuiii!”

  
Corrin ran down the hotel’s marble front steps to greet his sister, throwing his arms around her the second she opened her car door.

  
She laughed and hugged him back, squishing her face into his shoulder. “Miss me, Cor?”

  
He leaned back and made a fake gagging face, motioning back to the building’s overly-intricate entrance at the Hoshidan half of their family. “These people are impossible. We had to get here two hours early ‘just in case.’”

  
Kamui smiled and nodded, her eyes flickering warily to the group before back at her twin. “Yeah, well. We got out the door at the last second, so opposites of equals, right?”

  
“You know it. Come on, let's get your stuff up to your room.”

He popped the trunk open and grabbed the suitcase that was obviously hers (the only one that wasn't a dark, dreary color), nodding in greeting to the Nohrian siblings that were only just exiting the black sedan.

“Hi, guys! Happy Summer and stuff!”

  
He dashed back inside before anyone could reply, Kamui right behind him.

  
Ryoma stepped off the porch. “They insult us more than we do each other. It's almost unbelievable.”

  
Xander slammed the driver’s side door closed, offering his hand for the other Prince to shake. “Indeed. And yet they're more doting on each other than I've ever seen two people be.”

  
His younger brother rolled his eyes as he pulled his own luggage out of the car. “I'm certainly impressed. If I found out that I had a twin from Hoshido, I'd be mortified beyond reason.”

  
“You're already beyond reason most of the time,” his opposite muttered from the doorway, arms crossed.

  
“Now, now, boys,” Camilla tsked, ruffling Leo’s hair as she heaved a round leather-studded suitcase onto the pavement. “That's not proper princely comportment at all, is it?”

  
Leo swatted her hand away, adjusting his headband and hissing under his breath. Takumi snorted at the other boy’s flustering, then looked away innocently when Leo glared at him.

  
Their families shared knowing looks. Though none of them were as close as Kamui and Corrin (for hopefully obvious reasons), they all got along fairly well with their international counterparts. The eldest brothers were polite and respectful to each other. Camilla and Hinoka knew each other less than everyone else did, but they were friendly. And the youngest sisters were always giggling together.

  
...Talk about exposition.

  
The point was, this could be a long summer.

  
“Well, I'm going to find my room,” Leo eventually said, hauling his messenger bag up on his shoulder.

  
“There's a list of room numbers on the wall beside the elevator,” Ryoma called as the blonde Prince marched inside.

  
“Careful not to trip on your ego on your way up,” Takumi added loudly.

  
“Shut it, pineapple head!” Leo shouted back.

  
Well… It was only one month, right?

___________________________

The mountains along the border between Hoshido and Nohr were dense with sky-soaring trees, bubbling brooks, and wildlife.

  
...Especially wildlife.

  
“Do you smell that?”

  
“Smell what?”

  
“I think I found camp!”

  
“Which camp? Mine or yours? I don't smell any camp.”

  
“...Nevermind. It was just a squirrel den.”

  
“You are the literal worst.”

  
Loud, whiny wildlife, lacking in all sense of direction despite being natives of the mountains all their lives.

  
“Well, I'm sorry. I haven't been here in, like, two years,” Keaton huffed, his tail twitching with guilt. He probably should have picked up a map while they were still in human territory… But how dumb would they look coming back to their tribes using a man-made paper drawing?

  
Kaden sighed, but he couldn't help smiling. After all, he wasn't being any more helpful than his wolfskin companion, and being lost reminded him of the day they met.

  
Still. Priorities.

  
“Fine pair of Chiefs we make. Can't even find our own tribes. They won't believe it when they find out we've been fighting alongside humans all this time.”

  
“They won't care when we tell them about how cool we were, though,” Keaton said excitedly, pumping his fists in a fake-fighting manner. “Bam! Rawr! They were dropping like flies. And they had some nice treasures on them, too.”

  
The kitsune laughed. “You and your trinkets…”

  
“Always so jealous of my trinkets…”

  
Kaden stuck his tongue out playfully. “You wish. All I need is me and my beautiful tail.”

  
“If you say so- Hey, what's that?”

  
Keaton peered sharply ahead, tilting his head up to sniff the breeze. Kaden squinted at the thicket of trees ahead of them. “What's what?”

  
Keaton suddenly surged forward, howling like a hyperactive puppy. Kaden yelped in surprise and took off after him, hopping over the various twigs, roots, and pebbles in his path. When Keaton finally slowed to a stop they were both gasping for oxygen, the fox-blooded of the two having collapsed to the ground.

  
“Probably should've… transformed first,” he panted, trying to sit up. “I haven't run that fast since before the war…”

  
The wolfskin nudged him, still out of breath, but also still wearing a deliriously happy grin on his face. “Kaden- look where we are!”

  
“Hm?”

  
Kaden finally glanced up, squeaking in surprise. In front of them was a very familiar sight: a small cliff, maybe twenty feet high, overlooking two small, busy villages.

  
Keaton’s tail was wagging like crazy. “Home! I found it! We're actually home!”

  
The kitsune gratefully hugged his companion (as soon as he was able to get off the ground, requiring a smidge of help from a nearby log). “Yes! I can't believe we're actually here again!”

  
“I can't wait to show everyone all the cool stuff I got!”

  
“I can't wait to get a decent grooming in!”

  
The two looked at each other a laughed. They had missed their tribes more than they realized, but that didn't mean they hadn't had some fun staying with the humans-and each other-for the past couple of years.

  
“So… Bye, I guess,” Keaton said, staring out at the camps below them.

  
“Yeah… Maybe I'll see you soon?” There was a hint of hope in Kaden’s voice, admittedly. How could you not want to be around someone whose companionship you'd grown to depend on?

  
“Maybe we'll get lost again.” (The teasing of it was obvious, but to be honest it was probably accurate.)

  
“Heh. Maybe.”

  
And with that, the two shapeshifters parted ways, scurrying down the small cliff face and heading towards their separate tribes.

___________________________

Ten people wasn't much to fill a 55-room resort, which was why everyone’s retainers had been invited as well. They helped end the war too, after all. (They still only took up a little over half of the hotel, but nevermind that).

  
However, the driving arrangements were a bit iffy, and so it took an extra day of planning (and arguing) to get everyone situated and ready to go.

  
...Or so the royals were told.

  
“This is the life.”

  
“Get up, lazy ass.”

  
Laslow squeaked in surprise as Selena pushed him off the dark velvet couch, frowning down at him.

  
He quickly recovered, dusting himself off (though he didn't really need to, the floors of Castle Krakenberg were pristine; it was mostly just for show). “I apologize, dear lady. Were you planning on sitting there?”

  
“Cut the crap, loverboy. Do you have your bag packed?” Her voice was sharp, as always, but it had lost some of its edge over the past few weeks. Not that she would admit that.

  
“Of course, my lovely Severa. It wouldn't do for a gentleman not to be prepared for his next adventure, now, would it?”

  
She chucked a throw pillow at his head (they had to have that name for a reason, and this must've been it). “Don't call me that, stupid. Someone might hear you.”

  
“Might hear what?” Odin asked, appearing at the entrance of the lounge.

  
Selena didn't break a proverbial stride. “Laslow's incessant flirting, that's what.”

  
Laslow glanced up at his accuser, playing with the tassels on the assaulting pillow. “I only speak from the heart.”

  
“You speak from whatever hole finds its way open first. Anyways,” she continued before the flustered dancer could protest, looking back at Odin, “are you all packed up for tomorrow? And if so, shouldn't you be out conjuring ridiculously named curses on practice dummies instead of lounging around the castle?”

  
“I am, and alas, my dark talents are no longer required, what with this devastating storm cloud of war no longer invading our hearts and minds.”

  
“So… What are you doing here? Corrupting my space with your weird nerd static?”

  
“It is not “nerd static”, fearsome Selena, it is an inescapable hurricane of unpent raw power radiating from my very being. It is the mysterious draw of my own soul, infeasible to all those unworthy of gazing upon it.”

  
“How incredibly abstruse,” she said flatly.

  
“Indeed,” Odin replied proudly, either not getting her sarcasm or not caring (knowing him, it was the former). “Not that you could understand. No offense.”

  
“Oh, believe me, none taken.”

  
“Knock knock.”

  
Niles walked up beside Odin, leaning against the doorway. “What are we talking about? Anything juicy?”

  
“Selena is overly intent on us making sure our luggage is prepared,” Laslow answered, tossing the pillow back onto the couch. “Not that we can hold it against a rose so lovely as herself for being concerned for our readiness.”

  
“Jesus Christ,” Selena huffed, seating herself on the heavy dark mahogany coffee table centering the room. “I can't wait to not have to be around you two for a month. Maybe I'll meet someone who speaks normal English.”

  
Niles raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Perhaps you'll find yourself a proper man. Or woman, I'm not judging.”

  
She glared (any look from Severa was a glare, really, no matter what mood she was in) down at the polished wood floor. “And I suppose you'll be spending all your time with that Hinata guy?”

  
“That's the plan.”

  
“Lord Leo might kill you if he knew, especially considering who Hinata works for,” Laslow said, though he didn't sound particularly concerned. “I'm surprised nobody noticed during the war…”

  
“Yes, well. What the others don't know can't hurt them. And it's barely a thing anyways, I'm still trying to wear him down.”

  
“Your real worry should be the other retainer, what's-her-name-blue-hair. I tried to talk to her once, and she nearly bit my head off. The bitch…” Selena muttered, kicking the couch.

  
“I don't ‘worry’. I simply do and regret.” Niles pushed off of the doorway, stretching. “I suppose that if everyone here is packed, I should finish myself. Then take advantage of this empty castle.”

  
He strode away, leaving the other three alone in silence.

  
For once, Odin’s voice lost its booming intensity. “What do we do when summer ends?”

  
“We go home, of course,” Selena retorted, standing up. “I'm going to see if there's anything decent left to drink in the kitchen.”

  
She left the room. Laslow and Odin looked at each other.

  
At this point, where was home?

___________________________

“Have you ever read the Odyssey?”

  
“What? No.”

  
“Well, don't.” Corrin threw the book at his bed. “It makes zero sense.”

  
“Hmm.” Kamui laughed under her breath. “So noted.”

  
“Yeah…”

  
He pulled out his phone to check his texts, glancing up when she began to hum.

  
“Kamui?”

  
“‘Sup?”

  
“What are you thinking about?”

  
His sister tipped back in his desk chair, turning it slightly to face him. “Three guesses.”

  
“Azura?”

  
“First try! You're good at this.”

  
“You were humming her song.”

  
“Was I?” Kamui turned the chair again, touching the charm at her throat gently. It wasn't her adoptive sister’s real necklace, just an empty locket. She had yet to find something worthy of keeping in it, but for the time being it had simply reminded her of Azura.

  
“You are the ocean’s gray waves…”

  
Corrin traced the edge of the windowsill with his pointer figure. “Destined to seek life beyond the shore…”

  
“Just out of reach,” Kamui finished softly, sighing. “Maybe I shouldn't think about her so much.”

  
“You can't help it. We all miss her. You didn't know her for very long, but I know you two were close.”

  
She didn't answer.

  
Corrin waved his hand in front of her face. “You still with me?”

  
“What, nothing snarky to say?”

  
“Oh, I have plenty snark. I'm just sparing you because you're grieving.”

  
“We're all grieving.”

  
“You're grieving _openly and more than everyone else._ ”

  
Kamui snorted. “You make me sound needy.”

  
“You are needy. In need of a distraction.”

  
He pulled a loose piece of paper out of his desk (all the rooms had desks, printer paper, and complimentary pens at the ready) and held it up in front of his face.

  
“Ever made a paper airplane?”


	2. June 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The retainers actually show up (minus five of them and plus two other guys).  
> Leo and Takumi argue (what else is new).  
> ...And I realize that Niles is the most fun person to write about in the history of everything. :'D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I figured I should give some context on the AU :'3  
> If you couldn't tell, I went with the Kamui-and-Corrin-are-twins thing. But I messed with it, so here's the big stuff:  
> Kamui and Corrin were born under the same circumstances as in the game, i.e., they were Mikoto's children but aren't siblings to anyone but each other. Kamui was the one taken as a baby and raised in Nohr, so she follows the storyline normally. Corrin was raised in Hoshido, though, with no memory of his twin (and no one told him about her so as not to upset him).  
> They met when Kamui was brought back to Hoshido, and when she was forced to choose sides, she chose neither, and her brother went with her.  
> I decided that Flora and Gunter would be Kamui's retainers, and Felicia and Jakob would be Corrin's (with help from my friend). This is where Jakob's backstory gets changed slightly: his parents left him in Hoshido instead of Nohr. I'm going to say that when Azura was taken from Nohr, Felicia was kidnapped as well. That's why they're in Hoshido.  
> As for Gunter, this was started before I knew that he was evil, so if I've mentioned him at some point, I apologize. I'll try to remember him as evil from now on.  
> Flora is still Kamui's retainer.  
> Why is Azura dead? I'm not sure. I want her to be, that's why. Don't get me wrong, I love her. But she's dead now.  
> I'm gonna say that Kamui and Azura were in a not-quite-relationship, which is why Kamui is so affected by her death, but also why she's easily moved on to our dear smexy butler.  
> What else? Um. Sorry if I occasionally say Selena, Laslow, and Odin's real names outside of their own conversations. I played Awakening first and it's disorienting :'3  
> Aaand Silas is Kamui's best friend, Kaze is Corrin's. 
> 
> SORRY that was long as fuck, I just wanted to explain some stuff for background. With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!

“Is this yours?”

  
“What? No.”

  
Kamui yawned as she opened the door to her room. “What's all the commotion out he-”

  
She paused, staring down the hallway at the two squabblers. It was (as anyone could expect) Leo and Takumi, but what caught her eye was the thing in Takumi's hand.

  
She ducked back into her room, listening intently.

  
“Well, how did it get into my room, then?”

  
“Are you implying that I snuck into your room? You probably just left the window open, you dolt.”

  
“Obviously- and I'm not a dolt, scum. But there's no way it just happened to blow in in the middle of the night.”

  
“There's this _extraordinary_ thing called coincidence. Do I look like the kind of person who stays up late making paper airplanes?”

  
Kamui snuck a glance around the corner. Takumi had dropped the folded piece of paper, and though she could only see his back, she could assume he was pouting in frustration (per the usual for him). Leo stood with his arms folded over his chest, the same I-don't-like-you-but-I'll-talk-just-to-spite-you look he always had on his face when talking to the Hoshidan Prince.

  
She stepped back through the doorway. At least they were talking to each other without being forced to by the ever-present siblings… Albeit aggressively. Why were they up so early, anyways? Usually the oldest were the first awake.

  
Her wandering mind was snapped back by a sharp reply from Takumi.

  
“The only kind of person you look like is one I don't trust.”

  
“Honestly.” Leo sighed. “If you _absolutely require_ an alibi, I don't have any witnesses or photographic evidence, but all I did last night was read.”

  
“Read what?”

  
“Seriously? Do you really need to know?”

  
“For the sake of making sure you're not lying to me, yes.”

  
“Great gods, it's as if you want me to have snuck into your room… It was some old history book. I doubt you've even heard of it.”

  
“You'd be surprised. What's the title?”

  
“ _A Biographical Catalogue of Peacemakers_. I figure that if I have to be diplomatic with you people, I may as well learn how to do it properly.”

  
For a moment, there was silence. Then Takumi replied, “Your taste in literature isn't half bad… For a Nohrian.”

  
Kamui jumped over to her desk as he passed, trying to act like she hadn't been eavesdropping for the past five minutes. After the elevator dinged, Leo walked past her room as well.

  
She flipped open the empty sketchbook on her desk, closing her eyes. _We've barely even been here for a day…_

  
“It's just like those two to refuse to even ride the elevator together, isn't it?”

  
Kamui squeaked, startled, and tumbled off her swivel chair.

“What the hell, Corrin?!”

  
Her brother laughed as he helped her up. “Sorry. I could see you listening in on their argument from my room. This is yours, isn't it?”

  
He held up the paper airplane Takumi had left in the hallway. Its nose was a bit dented, but other than that, it was in good condition.

  
Kamui took it and promptly threw it into her deskside trash can.

  
Corrin blinked at his sister, then at the discarded plane. “Was that really necessary?”

  
“I don't know what you're talking about,” his twin replied breezily, brushing past him. “Come on, let's get some breakfast. The retainers are getting here today, and I want to be ready for any ensuing chaos.”

  
Her brother stood still, watching her leave the room.

  
_We all went through a war together… Is everyone here that oblivious to their own feelings, or do they just choose not to listen?_

  
“I'll be down in a sec,” Corrin called.

  
He grabbed a piece of paper off of Kamui’s desk.

___________________________

The dining room held ten round tables with five elegant padded chairs around each, and a marble bar-style island at the far end with five stools lining it. There were no seating arrangements- that was one thing that was up to everyone else, the twins said.  
The hotel had staff, but most of the servants were on vacation after the war, so one condition of staying free was that the guests had to cook and clean for themselves. The groceries were restocked weekly, and every day two different people were in charge of cooking, two in charge of doing the dishes, and two in charge of doing laundry (that last part had to be a girl and guy separate, for the sake of not embarrassing anyone). Kamui and Corrin had made detailed charts, but the first night was a free-for-all. The next morning, Camilla and Hinoka were deemed chefs of the day.

  
“You know, shoveling your food down like that won't make the rest show up any faster.”

  
“Shut up, Cor.”

  
Kamui flicked a cheerio at her brother, which he easily dodged, causing it to hit the wall behind him and stick there.

  
Leo looked up from his toast with distaste. “That is revolting.”

  
“Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you,” Takumi called from across the room.

  
He got a cheerio in the face.

  
“ _KAMUI_!”

  
“Whaaat?” She batted her eyelashes innocently while Corrin stifled a laugh beside her. “It was the only way to prevent you two arguing for an hour straight.”

  
“More like an hour gay,” Corrin whispered, causing his twin to burst into giggles.

  
Takumi grumbled (probably something vulgar) to himself, wiping the soggy cheerio off his cheek.

  
Hinoka’s voice sounded from the kitchen. “Calm down out there, you're being distracting to the cooks.”

  
“I agree. You don't want me accidentally cutting a finger off into your fruit, do you?” Camilla piped in.

  
“Fruit? Please tell me there's pineapple,” Corrin said, earning a threatening look from Takumi.

  
“There most certainly is not,”his buxom sister replied, carrying a tray of sliced fruit into the dining room and setting it on the island, where the twins were sitting. “Oh, all of you have already started eating? Honestly, you should have saved some room for Hinoka’s scrambled eggs. They are absolutely divine.”

  
“They are not,” came from the kitchen.

  
“They are too, she's just too modest to admit it,” Camilla said quietly, winking. “Anyways, don't eat all of this. You know how Elise and Sakura are with their strawberries…”

  
As she headed back into the kitchen, Kamui plucked a green cube off of the platter and held it out to Corrin. “Honeydew you love me?”

  
He picked up a similar orange piece and offered it to her in the same way. “I do, my dear, but I'm afraid I cantaloupe.”

  
Leo pushed in his chair and dropped his empty plate on the counter. “This room is already too full of people, and there's barely even anyone in it yet. I'm going to take a walk in the garden.”

  
Kamui twirled an apple slice at him. “Take Takumi with you. He's grumping up the place.”

  
“Hey! I am not.”

  
“You're just proving my point…”

  
“Ugh. Fine. If it'll shut you up, I'd be glad to have the company,” Leo muttered.

  
Corrin choked on his cantaloupe. “You? Glad? With Takumi?”

  
“I was _attempting_ to be polite. Besides that, I wouldn't wish the two of you on my greatest enemies.” He turned to the other Prince. “Begrudging as I am to suggest, feel free to join me. But only because I pity the soul who stays in a room with these twins for any period of time.”

  
Takumi glanced from him to the fruit-hoarding, pun-slinging pair and back again.

  
“Lesser of two evils,” he eventually said, standing up. “I've dealt with enough Corrin for a lifetime, I don't need twice as much.”

  
“You know you love us,” Corrin protested, but he was already waving goodbye.

  
Kamui did the same. “Have a nice trip. Bring us back something nice.”

  
“It's just the garden!” Leo yelled back a moment before the glass door shut behind him.

  
The twins looked at each other and laughed.

  
Outside, the opposing princes both stared at the ground as they walked.

  
“Those two are unbearable.”

  
“Gods, I know.”

  
“And I thought Kamui alone was bad…”

  
“They're so _pushy_ ,” Takumi stressed. “They're always putting themselves in charge, taking control, and everyone else just goes along with it because they're ‘natural leaders’. Everybody is always going on and on about how good they are- it's like the Corrin and Kamui show.”

  
He glanced up to see Leo staring at him and fumbled. “N-not that I'm jealous or anything, it's just that-”

  
“Are you that moronic?”

  
He put up a hand to stall Takumi's indignant retort. “I swear, all of you Hoshidans wear your hearts on your sleeves. While it can be a rather annoying trait, it does make you easier to read.”

  
He stopped short at the garden entrance, turning to face the other Prince eye-to-eye (well, almost; he was at least a few inches taller). “As much attention as our siblings may receive- from each other or from our subjects- it is our responsibility to stand by and do what is right for our countries. Only the weak depend on others for approval.”

  
He spun briskly on his heel and marched through the wrought-iron gate.

  
Takumi remained by the entrance. “Do you really believe everyone else is weak for helping each other, or are you just afraid that you're the weak one because they're always leaving you behind?”

  
Leo disappeared behind a wall of gardenias. “Is that how you feel, Prince Takumi?”

  
He received no answer.

___________________________

The wolfskin and kitsune tribes had always been aware of each other. For many years they simply feigned ignorance; avoidance was easier than risking conflict by acknowledging each other’s existences. Kitsune stayed on their side of the mountain, and wolfskin did the same.

  
But humans proved to be more of a threat to the tribes than either could be to the other. Both races became targets for hunters, trapped and gunned down. Their small civilizations were slowly destroyed.

  
Then, one freezing day just after the winter solstice, two separate attacks were launched on both villages. Poachers invaded, burning down huts and slaughtering any shapeshifters they could find.

  
Including the tribe leaders.

  
Their respective sons escaped with the few survivors of each tribe, in desperate search for help at the dying words of their parents. It was there, in the deepest reaches of the forest, that the two races truly met for the first time. These two young men, the scarce remains of their species surrounding them, found each other terrified and sobbing. Their families were dead, and their homes were demolished.

  
All hope was lost, and as this dawned upon each and every one of the shapeshifters, the new leader of the wolfskin stepped forward to face the similarly anointed kitsune chief and said, “Are you okay?”

  
They built new camps, sheltered and near. . They assisted each other, but remained separate, holding the culture of their races but able to survive with one another's help. A law of peace between the tribes was passed, and life began anew.

  
Despite the dark circumstances by which they had met, Kaden and Keaton looked back on that day with a sense of thanks and relief. Finding each other kept them alive and sane in a moment of panic, and that made them that much more grateful for each other's friendship. Even when unintentionally dragged into a human’s war, their companionship was enough of a reminder for them not to be homesick.

  
… Now, however, they dealt with problems that were a bit more unexpected and unavoidable than being in the middle of conflict.

  
“You ought to take a mate.”

  
Keaton coughed, gagging on the chicken he had been trying to eat in peace.

  
Ava shook her head from across the table. “Honestly, you shouldn't be so surprised. Everyone just about panicked when you and Kaden disappeared like that, and with no heirs for either tribe, we were all leaderless.”

  
“It's not that big of a deal…”

  
“You were gone! For _two years!_ ”

  
Keaton winced. “Well, when you put it like that it does sound kind of major…”

  
The other wolfskin sighed and stood up. “Look. I know that you're not exactly what everyone would think of as a family man, but you're in your mid-twenties and you're the leader of our tribe. All I'm saying is that you should think about it. There must be somebody you're interested in, right?”

  
He stared at her as she left the tent, pondering her words.  
_Interested in?_

_____________________________

“There's been a change of plans.”

  
Four hours ago, Corrin had said that over the phone to Selena, who had the foolish sense to ask what it was rather than hanging up then and there.

  
Here was the thing:

  
Reina and Orochi, retainers of the late lady Mikoto, had originally been put in charge of watching Castle Shirasagi while the Hoshidan royal family was on vacation. However, things came up, and they had to leave. Azama and Setsuna, Hinoka's retainers, volunteered to stay behind and castlesit in their place, meaning that two rooms in the hotel were left unused. Kaze, who for some reason hadn't been invited in the first place, volunteered to take one of the rooms.

  
This was all a bit last minute, and as soon as Corrin got the call, he told Kamui to inform Selena that there was a small change and that the guest list was just a bit different. This wouldn't have affected the Nohrian retainers too much, except that Niles said something about why did the Hoshidan castle need supervision, nobody was taking care of Castle Krakenberg, and Arthur just _could not believe_ that nobody would be watching the Nohrian castle, so he volunteered, and Effie said she would stay with him so he wouldn't break anything.

  
With all of that said and done, it was realized that this left two _more_ rooms open, and so Flora phoned up Silas and offered for him to come too. It was three hours past when they were originally planning to leave by the time that had Flora picked Silas up and all the remaining retainers had piled into Selena’s rented minivan.

  
To be fair, Silas was a pretty fast packer.

  
Now they were one hour into the five-hour ride to the border between Hoshido and Nohr, and honestly the country station was getting pretty old.

  
“You don't even like country,” Odin complained from the backseat, forgetting his usual ego in the way of weariness. “Why are we listening to it?”

  
“Because none of you like it,” Selena replied shortly, making a left turn. “And the driver gets to pick the music.”

  
“You are the definition of petty,” Niles said, flipping through a magazine. “And normally I'd admire that, but believe me, if you think you can force me to listen to five hours of guys singing about how they fucked their girlfriends on their tractors, you are making a dangerous enemy.”

  
“Play Single Ladies,” Peri piped in. “That's Laslow's favorite song.”

  
“It is not!” Laslow protested from beside her, turning bright red. “I have much more refined tastes.”

  
“Everyone quiet down,” Selena barked. “I don't hear Beruka complaining about my choice in radio stations.”

  
“That's because she has her headphones on. That doesn't count.” Laslow adjusted his seatbelt, wondering why the hell he had left his own earbuds at home. They would have been useful right about then.

  
“The least they could do is play a _good_ country song,” Odin said, leaning back against his headrest. “What happened to Carrie Underwood? I wanna hear Little Toy Guns!”

  
“That song is so two years ago,” Niles murmured, flipping another page.

  
“Dear lord. If you're just going to complain the whole time, then fine.”

  
Selena twisted the radio knob, changing it to a pop station. Shut Up and Dance blasted through the speakers.

  
Laslow pumped his fist in the air. “Praise the gods! I knew you had a heart, Selena!”

  
“Whatever,” she huffed. “I was just sick of everyone's bitching and moaning.”

  
“This song is also outdated,” Niles added.

  
They all sang along anyway.

___________________________

 

“They're here!”

  
Kamui scrambled off of the couch, doing an unintended belly flop onto the expensive rug below. “WHAT. YES. FINALLY.”

  
Corrin poked her with his foot. “You saw the Nohrian retainers, like, two days ago, didn't you?”

  
She stood up, hurrying to the heavy hotel doors. “I'm not excited about them, Cor. I am anticipating the arrival of one person in particular.”

  
Her brother laughed. “Oh, right. Jakob.”

  
“What about Jakob?” Elise asked, bouncing down away from the window from which she had announced the new arrivals.

  
“Kamui has a cruuuush on hiiim,” Corrin singsonged, tapping away on his phone.

  
“O-oh, that's nice f-for her,” Sakura mumbled from beside Elise. “Jakob is v-very polite.”

  
“Jakob is very _savage_ ,” her big brother corrected a split second before Kamui cried, “I do _not_ like him! We just have a lot in common and I enjoy talking to him!”

  
“You enjoy staring at his ass.”

  
“Shut up, your little sisters are right there.”

  
“I'm not hearing you deny it…”

  
“Get a life, Cor.” She threw the door open and stepped outside. “Come on, let's help everyone get their stuff inside."

  
“Can't. In the middle of a game.”

  
Elise and Sakura scurried after her. Corrin remained on the couch until Kamui came back in and dropped a suitcase on his lap. He yelped, dropping his phone.  
“I was about to beat my high score on subway surfers!”

  
“Oh, for crying out loud- show Felicia to her room, Corrin. Your retainers have always been your servants, now you should repay the favor.”

  
He glanced up. “And you're carrying Jakob’s bag because…?”

  
“Because Flora isn't here yet, so I'm helping your retainer for the time being. Let's go find your room, Jakob!”

  
She marched off, Corrin’s butler trailing behind her. “Lady Kamui, you really don't need to trouble yourself…”

  
“Nonsense. You've had to wait on my brother for years, you deserve a break.”

  
Corrin watched them go, laughing under his breath. Finally, he stood up.

  
“Let's go, Felicia.”


	3. June 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite just getting settled in, the vacation is already coming up mystery and worry for a lot of people. Some more so than others...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Niles gets more Niles-y. Leo and Takumi decide to become the angstiest, most vulgar mystery-solving duo known to mankind. Kaden still isn't sure if Keaton is really philosophical or really dumb, and Hana reveals to Corrin that she has feelings for the saltiest girl in the building.  
> Oh! Also, Odin is semi-openly gay. Bet you didn't see that coming.  
> *looks over at tags*  
> Nope. 
> 
> I've uploaded these first few chapters super quickly because I already had them done for the most part, so it's gonna be a bit slower from here on out (but I swear to god, I'm gonna finish this story). I'm at a whopping 38 hits (oos and ahs at my own self-proclaimed accomplishment, which I'm pretty sure isn't much of an accomplishment), and I'm aiming for a goal of at least a hundred?? Like that's my goal right now woooo :'P  
> All that said, enjoy how sarcastic and uncensorable Niles is. He's my favorite part of every chapter, I swear.

The hotel was six stories tall, plus a basement . The ground floor had the entrance, foyer, dining room, kitchen, indoor pool, and a computer lab. Every floor above had eleven rooms, each with a king-sized bed, a polished wooden desk with a high-grade office chair, a 60-inch flat-screen TV, a closet, and a new tech bathroom. 

Since only twenty-seven of the fifty-five rooms were being filled, there was room for spreading out amongst the five floors. The royals were on the second floor, the Hoshidan retainers were on the third, and the Nohrian retainers were on the fourth.

There were two keys to each room: one for the person to whom that room belonged, and one that that person was to give to someone else in case of an emergency (or forgetfulness).

The original idea was that everyone would choose someone they trusted to give the spare key to. However…

  
“What if we drew names to see who gets each other's keys?”

  
A table away, Selena spit out her breakfast. “That is a _terrible_ idea.”

  
Kamui clapped her hands at her brother's suggestion. “That's a great idea! It's kind of like a trust fall.”

  
“Yeah, except instead of hitting your head off the floor, you risk your underwear getting stolen.” Selena impaled her bacon with a fork, causing Laslow and Odin to exchange a now-that's-not-how-you-do-it look.

  
“I don't object to that happening,” Niles interjected.

  
Hana gave him a wary look from the other side of the room. “I don't really want him to have access to my room…”

  
“There will be no breaking and entering, much less panty snatching,” Kamui reassured, leaning back in her chair.

  
Flora glanced up. “You do realize this conversation is happening while people are trying to eat, right?”

  
“I'm going to go find the box that has everyone's names in it,” Corrin announced, pushing his chair in.

  
“Oh, of course. That one thing we just always have lying around: a cardboard box with slips of paper containing all of our friends’ names in it,” Selena said sarcastically.

  
Kamui scoffed. “Obviously. And it's a metal box”

  
“I wouldn't use the term ‘friends’ so loosely,” Jakob muttered.

  
Corrin was back almost instantly, swinging the lockbox by its handle. He hoisted himself up onto the marble island, holding the object above his head.

“Gather around, my people, and find out who's going to be your backup for the next month! It's just like teaming up in battle, except there's less blood and you don't actually have to hang out with them. You should, though,” he added quickly. “There is absolutely no trading of names, and when you receive someone's key you may not use it without their permission. Anyone found violating these rules will… Hmm… Get thrown into the pool. Wearing their normal clothes. With socks on.”

  
Leo rolled his eyes (As he did often.) “Terrifying.”

  
Corrin shook the box at him. “Shut it, tomato breath. For that, you get to go first.”

  
The prince sighed and stepped forward. “If I must.”

  
He stuck his hand into the container and rifled around for a moment before pulling out a piece of paper and reading it aloud. “Subaki.”

  
The redhead stepped forward, and Leo shoved the key at him. “Fair enough. You're certainly not the least trustworthy of this bunch.”

  
Kamui gave him a thumbs-up. “A somewhat unaggressive statement! We're making progress!”

  
She beckoned Sakura’s retainer forward. “Your turn now, Subaki. We may as well just go by whoever’s name got pulled last.”

  
The key lottery continued, luckily resisting overlap until nearly halfway through.

  
“Felicia.”

  
“Elise.”

  
“Sakura!”

  
“K-Kaze?”

  
“Kamui.”

  
“Jakob, sweet!”

  
“Lord Ryoma.” (“You don't have to say lord,” Corrin hissed. “I most certainly do,” Jakob hissed back.)

  
“Hana.”

  
“Corrin.”

  
“Pineap- Takumi.”

  
Takumi unfolded his paper and groaned. “ _Leo_.”

  
Kamui snickered.

  
He begrudgingly handed over his key. “Don't even think about coming into my room without permission,” he warned.

  
“Wouldn't dream of it,” Leo replied breezily, sticking the key in his back pocket.

  
Corrin shook the box.

  
“Alrighty,” he said. “Who wants to go next?”

___________________________

 

“Prince Takumi.”

  
Takumi stopped midstep, turning around to face his caller. “Yes, Prince Leo?”

  
“I have a matter I wish to discuss with you. Care to take a walk?”

  
The other Prince narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but nodded anyway. “As you wish.”

  
Outside, he unzipped his jacket and tied it around his waist. “Great Gods, it's hot out here… What do you want to talk about?”

  
Leo kept his head level, not looking at the other. “This morning upon waking up, I found something sitting below my open window.”

  
Takumi’s eyes widened. “You didn't.”

  
“At first I thought perhaps you had tried to take revenge for what you thought I had done to you by sneaking into my room, but I realized that you were too smart for that. Then I thought that maybe you had faked the first airplane yourself just for an excuse to pretend to retaliate on me, but I know you're too dumb for that. So here's the conclusion I've come to,” he said, making hand gestures as he went along. “Someone intentionally threw paper airplanes into both of our rooms for some reason, and I want you to help me find out who and why.”

  
Takumi narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “I should probably be offended. Also, I hate you. But I really want to know where that airplane came from, so… Fine.”

  
“Good.” Leo offered his hand.

  
The other Prince looked down with disdain. “Do I have to touch you?”

  
“For fuck’s sake.” The blonde huffed. “Do you want to help me or not?”

  
“Uuugh… Fine.” He grabbed Leo’s hand and shook it rapidly for a millisecond, then wiped his palm on his sweatshirt.

  
Leo looked satisfied. “Close enough. I'm going to do some looking into this. Meet me in the center of the hedge maze tomorrow so we can begin our investigation.”

  
“O…kay then. Can I leave now? I don't like being in your presence for too many minutes at a time. Bad fashion sense is infectious.”

  
“Hilarious. Whatever. I'd be glad to be rid of you as soon as possible anyways. Goodbye.”

  
They split paths as simply as if they had never spoken at all.

___________________________

 

“Ava's been bugging me about it all week.”

  
Kaden tossed a stone at the slowly drifting river. It skipped twice before sinking into the current. “Yeah, the whole tribe is on my tail about it too. I don't get why this is such a big deal. I'll get a mate when I find someone I like.”

  
He picked a smooth, round stone off of the riverbank and threw it, angling his arm. It skipped four times, and he grinned. “Best one today. I missed doing this before the war.”

  
Keaton pouted. “I wish I were good at skipping stones…”

  
Kaden ‘pff’ed at him. “If you could just find a rock you didn't want to keep, maybe you'd be able to spend more time actually practicing.”

  
“Hey! They're pretty. I like having them in a box in my tent. “

  
“I'm pretty. They are rocks. Are you seeing the difference?”

  
“You can both be pretty, you know.”

  
Keaton inspected the dusty sand for a moment, then picked out a dark-speckled pebble. He brushed the dirt off of it and held it up level with Kaden’s face. “See? I think you're both beautiful. Is it bad to want to be around pretty things whenever you can?”

  
“Well, no…”

  
The kitsune stared at the ground, slightly sheepish. He knew that he was gorgeous, but he didn't realize Keaton had actually noticed. He always assumed that he wasn't much for traditional beauty.

  
Keaton giggled and pocketed the object. “What, don't like being compared to a rock? If it helps, Kaden, I think you're worth a thousand pebbles. Maybe ten thousand.”

  
Kaden sighed. So much for an emotional moment. _He's so dense sometimes…_ “Thanks.”

  
The wolfskin leaned back, lying on the sparse grass and gravel of the shore.

  
“It just doesn't make sense, you know? We're the Chiefs. How come our tribes are pressuring us about what's right for everyone? That's our job to decide.”

  
“You'd think. But… They kind of have a point, don't they?”

  
Keaton huffed. “You. Yeah, you. Marry someone you're not actually in love with and have a kid. Right now. I don't care about your opinion at all. We voted.” He twitched his ears. “When I put it like that, do they have a point?”

  
Kaden pulled his knees up against his chest. “You're right… Gosh, this is difficult. Why did we get stuck as leaders? We're terrible at this.”

  
“Because fate wanted us to.”

  
Keaton picked up a pebble and chucked it at the river.

  
It skipped five times.

___________________________

 

“So, did you two have a nice sleepover last night? I never got to ask.”

  
Laslow blushed as he flipped through his phone messages. “You know it's not like that. We've been through this before.”

  
“Mm.” Niles tapped the arm of the couch, crossing one leg over the other. “Do I? You two stay up late ‘just talking to each other’ an awful lot. It's suspicious.” He was using air quotes.

  
“It's not my fault he fell asleep in my room! It would have been weirder if I tried to drag him back to his own bed, wouldn't it?”

  
“I did _not_ fall asleep,” Odin protested from where he sat on the ottoman. “The whim of dreariness simply called out to me, and I couldn't resist its tempting pull.”

  
Laslow laughed under his breath. “You were snoring.”

  
“Look, why can't you just text each other?”

  
“That would be a tragic misuse of precious cellular data,” Odin said.

  
“But the hotel has wifi.”

  
“Waste of battery power?” Laslow suggested in defense.

  
Niles shook his head. “Okay. Unfortunately, after seeing you two interact for years, I do believe that you are…” He shuddered. “ _Just friends_. However, try to be more subtle about your late-night girly gossip. Some people are beginning to question the nature of your relationship.”

  
“What do you mean by ‘unfortunately’?” Laslow asked at the same time that Odin demanded, “What people dare to question such a thing?!”

  
Niles ignored the former question. “First of all, your dear friend Selena. It seems that despite knowing both of you longer than any of us, she's still not sure about either of your… Preferences.”

  
Laslow hunched his shoulders in humiliation as he typed something. “By the gods, Selena, why…”

  
“And,” the eyepatch-clad retainer continued, “Hinata asked me yesterday if you two are going out. I told him it was anybody's guess, but that you're probably too clueless to understand your obvious desperate attraction to each other and just hook up already.” He jabbed a finger at both of them. “In those exact words, at a table in the middle of the dining room out where God and everyone could hear. If you were curious.”

  
His partner stared at him in mild horror. Laslow buried his face in the plush back of the couch and wailed, “Everybody's going to think I'm gay!”

  
Niles picked up the drama king’s phone (that not being Odin for maybe the first time ever) from where it had dropped and tapped a few buttons. “Come on, we're all a little queer."

  
“I'm not,” Laslow whimpered, his voice muffled by embroidery and couch stuffing.

  
“Don't be so sure.” He tossed the device back onto the cushion. “If you're that straight, why do you insist on being joined at the hip with permanent edgelord over here?”

  
Xander's retainer finally turned away from the sofa, glaring at Niles. “It's called being best friends. It's normal. Like… Silas and Kamui aren't dating.”

  
“Only because Kamui refuses to acknowledge the fact that Silas has a massive schoolboy crush on her.”

  
“You are the literal worst human being on the planet.” Laslow stood up (grabbing his phone, which he was not aware had been tampered with) and stomped over to the foyer doorway, a hand on his hip. “Unless you have a topic to discuss that doesn't relate to someone else's personal business, I'm done here.”

  
He turned and borderline sashayed away, leaving Leo's retainers alone.

  
“Dude. He just went all _Mean Girls_ on us,” Niles murmured.

  
He glanced over at Odin, who stared miserably at the spot Laslow had disappeared from, and sighed. “Don't worry, he'll come around. I know a fellow homosexual when I see one, and everything about that guy _screams_ ‘fuck me in the ass’.”

  
Odin sank into a position somewhat resembling that of a sack of potatoes. “My heart is a pitfall of loneliness and longing for my true home. Why must the single ray of light in my life turn away from me in my times of desperate need? Am I truly so unworthy of his precious affection?”

  
Niles poked him with his foot. “Maybe you should just tell him that you're gay. You'll be halfway there.”

  
“Unfathomable.”

  
“I don't know why you've got your skull-print panties in a bunch over this. I'm telling you, he's about as straight as a circle. It's like there's a rainbow painted on his forehead- he's bi, at the absolute most.”

  
Odin sat up, crossing his arms like a little kid. “How can you be so sure?”

  
“I was right about you, wasn't I? And Master Leo.”

  
“You have no solid evidence supporting that.”

  
“I have plenty of evidence, though it's not necessarily _solid_.”

  
“I assume it would be unwise to inquire as to what you mean by that.”

  
He pondered quietly for a moment, his hands folded in his lap. “What could an insidious creature such as myself do to gain the attention of the delicate blossom that is him?”

  
“He clearly sees you as his closest friend. Why not just leave it be for now? Besides, intricate setups and meddling are more my thing, yknow?”

  
His partner picked at the woven fabric of the ottoman. “Why should I trust you?”

  
“Because you don't have much choice, now do you? And anyways… I already have a plan.”

___________________________

 

As was evident at this point, a lot of people held unrequited feelings for others on this vacation…

  
“Corrin?”

  
However…

  
“What's up, Hana?”

  
Some had it worse than others.

  
The petite brunette tugged anxiously at the hem of her shirt. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  
“Uh… Sure.”

  
Corrin glanced from the self-serving lining they were standing in (it was Oboro and Beruka’s night to cook, and the two blue-haired girls had made an impressive and unique mix of Hoshidan and Nohrian foods) over to his usual table. Kamui was arguing with Kaze about something with Jakob and Silas backing her up. While Felicia tried to calm everyone down, Flora looked on with amusement.  
He figured he wasn't needed here.

  
“Should we go somewhere else? Your room?”

  
“Yeah. Um. Yeah.”

  
Corrin watched her with slight concern as she led the way to the elevator and pressed the third-floor button. What could she be so upset about? She only acted this introverted when she was worried about something…

  
When they were safely in Hana’s room, he sat down in her swiveling office chair. There was a corkboard up above her desk with pictures tacked to it, both old and recent.

  
Corrin leaned up, brushing the photos with his fingertips. There was one of Hana and Sakura wearing flower crowns, one of Hana, Subaki and him making ridiculous faces at the camera- there were even a few taken during the war, which had some of the Nohrians in them. Corrin smiled slightly. “Already decorating… And such good taste. I mean, I look great in these.”

  
“Ha ha.” Hana moved to perch on the edge of her bed. “Corrin, um… Have you ever had a crush on someone who probably doesn't like you back?”

  
He spun around in the chair, rubbing his chin. “Hmm… No.”

  
“No?” Hana squeaked.

  
“No, because I've only had crushes on people who either definitely do or do not like me back. I make a point of saying, ‘Would you do me?’ And then I go from there.”

  
The brunette looked mortified. “I can't just say that to someone! That's awful!”

  
Corrin laughed. “I'm just kidding. You know me. The only person I can think of who might do something like that is Niles.”

  
Hana flopped back onto her bedspread, groaning. “I'm being serious.”

  
“I know, I'm sorry. Kind of.”

  
Corrin stood up and walked over, sitting down beside her on the fluffy comforter. “I get how you feel. Most people do. It's like, ‘I value your friendship above all else, but maybe a little kissing would be nice too!’”

  
She stared up at him incredulously.

  
He blinked. “Not helping?”

  
“Good lord. I don't think this counts as friendzoning, so it's not even relatable.”

  
“Aww, poor Hanny-wanny. All alone without her cwush. Who is it, anyways?”

  
Hana turned her face towards the other side of the room. “I can't tell you. You'll think I'm insane.”

  
“Promise I won't.”

  
“That's not very reassuring.”

  
“I swear on Azura's grave, then.”

  
She winced. “Isn't that a bit intense?”

  
Corrin shrugged. “I'm serious about keeping your secret.”

  
Hana exhaled slowly. “Hhhhnnn… Okay, fine. I might like. Um. S-Selena?”

  
He looked down at her. Raised an eyebrow. Looked away, looked back. Covered his mouth. Lowered the eyebrow. Looked away again.

  
“Well, _shit_.”


	4. June 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no way a day at the beach can go wrong, right?  
> Oh, wait a second...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody can tell me they expect things to go right for these people  
> No Keaton/Kaden section today, sorry. I wanted to focus just on the characters at the hotel (which I am failing in because fucking Saizo and Kagero haven't been mentioned eVEN ONCE AAAAA)  
> I finally got to include a tiiiiny bit of Oboro and Hinata's characters, which was nice while it lasted. I want Niles to interact with Takumi and both of his retainers more, it's nice.  
> I might start doing sections for our resident kitsune and wolfskin every other chapter instead of every chapter?? Depends on how much people like them. But since I doubt I'll get any feedback on that part, I'll probably just go with it.

To be absolutely honest?

  
Kamui had no idea where she stood with Jakob.

  
When she met him, everyone told her he was kind of an asshole to anyone who wasn't Corrin. But he was nice to _her_. And it didn't seem to be because she was his liege’s sister, since she had seen him go bat-shit crazy savage on some of their not-technically-siblings. He thought everyone was an annoyance… But not Kamui.  
Still. That didn't necessarily mean he _liked_ her liked her.

  
There was one way to narrow it down, though.

  
“Beach day!”

  
Corrin threw a beach ball at Kamui that was at least half her height in diameter, knocking her against the wall and to the ground.

  
Leo stepped carefully around her on his way to the elevator. “Good morning, Kamui.”

  
Takumi followed, swatting the ball away from her so she could at least see enough to scramble to her feet. “Honestly, all of your brothers are the worst.”

  
“You're her brother, too, if we're counting adoptives,” Corrin argued from his bedroom door.

  
Takumi threw the ball at him.

  
Really, a day at the beach was just what these people needed. Kamui and Corrin had purposefully planned it early on in the trip to make sure nobody could get sick or arrested or killed by someone else in the hotel before they all got to hang out by the shore.

  
Car arrangements were made in advance. Everyone was required to bring a bathing suit, a cover up of some sort (t-shirt, sundress, hell, a fucking cape would work), a towel, and most essentially, sunscreen.

  
Because she knew she was traveling with idiots, Kamui had brought a lot- a _lot_ \- of extra sunscreen.

  
She also made a mental note not to let Niles near anyone with it. PG 13 beach day.

  
She stuffed things into her dragon-patterned shoulder bag, murmuring a check off list to herself as she did so.

  
“Towel… Wallet… Phone… Travel charger…”

  
“Almost ready, sis?”

  
Kamui sighed and heaved the bag off of her bed so it hung on the crook of her elbow. “Hopefully.” She flipped her bangs out of her eyes. “Is this a good idea or an awful one?”

  
“Only time will tell.” Corrin grabbed her straw sun hat off of the bed and put it on.

  
Kamui snorted as she walked past him on the way to the elevator. “You look like a girl.”

  
“Perfect. Maybe now guys will notice me.” He moved the hat over to her head, running his fingers through his already-ruffled hair. “So, when we get into the water, wanna race? I've already beat, like, all of our Hoshidan siblings, so I need a new challenge.”

  
“In that case, don't choose me.” Kamui pressed the first button on the elevator. “I can barely swim. We hardly had time for such things growing up in Nohr.”

  
Corrin leaned against the wall. “Jesus. But swimming is an essential skill… In that case, why bother wearing a swimsuit at all?”

  
“Because you don't have to swim to _go in the water_ , dumbass. Besides, I've enrolled Jakob's help to teach me.”

  
They both stepped out of the elevator. “You have _no_ subtlety in trying to get with him, you know that?”

  
“That's the point, Cor.”

  
“Kamui!”

  
Elise waved her over to the entryway, and Corrin followed. “You're riding with us, right?”

  
By ‘us’ she meant her, Sakura, Hinoka, and Camilla in the red minivan that the Hoshidan royals had driven there in. Technically it was Ryoma's car, but he was going with Xander, Leo, Takumi, and Corrin in the Nohrians’ black sedan. (It had been decided that the royalty should split up and intermix with each other a bit, so they were trying out the classic girls-and-guys separation tactic to start.)

  
“Yup.” Kamui adjusted her bag again. “Has everyone but our groups left?”

  
“Looks like not quite,” Corrin said, pointing at the glass of the double doors.

  
Through it, Selena and Niles could be seen arguing (well, Selena was arguing; Niles was probably just Niles-ing) while their fellow Nohrian retainers huddled in Selena’s car. Odin appeared to be recording them on his cell phone, and Peri was pounding her fists on the window, mouthing, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” over and over.

  
Kamui ‘hmm’ed at them. “Didn't they come as a group? Maybe we should have separated them…”

  
“Nah, they're too fun to watch. And you know those guys, they'll be fine.” Corrin patted his sister on the head. “Let's go. I'm sure Ryoma and Xander desperately need me to sit in between the walking fruits so they don't kill each other, and you need to get to the beach ASAP for your ‘swimming lessons’.”

  
With that, he pushed the front doors open and jogged over to the sedan. Elise bounced on her toes and grabbed Kamui's hand, tugging her towards their own car. “Come on, big sister!”

  
“R-right,” Kamui laughed, obliging to the younger girl’s request.

  
On the ride there, when no one was looking, she threw a meticulously folded piece of paper out the window.

___________________________

 

“Did you have to tie them down?”

  
“No, they sat by each other and conversed like normal human beings. It was almost disturbing.”

  
Leo cleared his throat. “You two do realize that we’re standing right here, don't you?”

  
Corrin waved him off. “Quiet, tomato. The grown-ups are talking.”

  
Kamui, though, peeked around her brother at the other two princes. “What did you even talk about?”

  
Takumi shrugged. “History. Food. Other stuff.”

  
“We actually have a lot in common, not that it's any business of _yours_ ,” Leo added, folding his arms.

  
Corrin blew him a raspberry. “Yeah, yeah. It's always our business, you know, you are our little brothers.”

  
With that, pranced away (seriously, pranced, like a damn unicorn), abandoning his twin with the human salt shakers.

  
“Really, we aren't your little brothers,” Leo muttered.

  
“And we're much more adult than you guys have ever been,” Takumi agreed.

  
Kamui ignored their griping. (They were griping _in unison_ , after all.) She smiled softly. “It's nice to know that you two are getting along.”

  
She turned and followed her brother, skipping across the sand.  
Leo stared after her in disbelief. “She is…”

  
“Impossible to read?”

  
“Yeah…” He shook his head. “Don't finish my sentences. Aren't you gonna go swim or something?”

  
Takumi threw his towel down onto the beach, smoothing it out with his foot. “Yeah. Aren't you?”

  
“As if,” Leo scoffed, setting his own beach bag down. He pulled out a long blue cloak and fastened it at the base of his neck, then put on a pair of dark sunglasses and sat neatly on his towel, criss-cross applesauce style.

  
“PFF,” Takumi giggled, too quickly to cover his mouth and stop himself. “Is that a _cape_?”

  
“It's a cloak.” Leo rolled his eyes under the sunglasses. “There's a difference, not that you would know. I burn easily and I'm not big on water, so there was really no point in me coming here at all. But they-who-must-not-be-named forced me to, so I'm just going to stay in the shade, thank you very much.”

  
He pulled a book out of the bag (Takumi peeked at it, there were several more) and flipped to a dog-eared page.

  
The other Prince cocked his head. “There's such thing as sunscreen, you know."

  
“Doesn't work on me,” Leo replied flatly.

  
“Can you even swim?”

  
“Enough not to drown.”

  
Takumi tapped a toe on his ankle. “I could teach you.”

  
“What, like those two?” The Nohrian jabbed a thumb at Kamui and Jakob, who were already in the water. (Kamui really was an awful swimmer, but the butler didn't seem to care.) “No thanks. To your credit, Takumi, you are more tolerable than a lot of these people, at least at a second glance. But we are not friends. Temporary allies, if anything.”

  
“I know that. I'm not a fool.” He looked out at the ocean. “But allies help each other, right?”

  
H wandered away, towards his siblings and retainers. Leo watched him over the top of his book as he peeled his t-shirt off and took off running into the waves with Hinata.

  
He sighed and folded the corner of the page back, stretching out on his towel and closing his eyes against the sun.

  
_Nobody here makes any sense._

_____________________________

 

“Heeey, Hinata.”

  
The young retainer turned around. “Niles!”

  
From behind him, Takumi gave the pale-haired man a ‘just-what-are-you-doing’ glare. Niles met his eye and responded with his own look of ‘just-try-and-stop-me-bitch’. (Niles’ looks were as vulgar as his speech.)

  
Hinata didn't seem to notice the intense staring contest as he continued to gush. “Isn't this beach the coolest? I mean, I know that all oceans are blue, but like, this one is _so blue._ ”

  
“I haven't seen many oceans. None but this one, actually. But it's certainly blue.”

  
Niles paired this statement with one of his signature smiles. Gods, this guy was so adorable. So innocent. So _naïve_.

  
He was just Niles’ type.

  
Seeing where this was going, Takumi stomped (sloshed) back to the beach and whispered something to Oboro. She dropped the volleyball she was holding (much to the disappointment of her teammate, Subaki, and much to the delight of Selena and Peri, who high-fived on the other side of the net), and turned to Niles with murder in her eyes.

  
That was his cue to hurry up.

Unfortunately, the brunette’s silly, borderline ignorant personality worked both ways: in his favor or against it.

  
“It's the perfect temperature to go swimming, isn't it? The water’s not even that cold once you get used to it.”

  
“Listen, I should probably head back over to-”

  
“Niles!”

  
Oboro’s voice was as tight as her smile. “Leaving so soon? You just got in the water!”

  
_Okay, there's no way I'm going to be upstaged by slushie-hair the fashionista over here,_ he thought to himself.

  
“You're right! What am I thinking? We're here to have fun, aren't we?”

  
The female retainer’s face fell. “What?”

  
He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “HARDCORE MARCO POLO! COME PLAY OR GET OUT!”

  
A few yards away, Kamui pumped her arm in the air. “YES! LET’S GO!”

  
She slipped backwards and yelped when Jakob caught her in the water. “Go on, then, milady, I'll watch from the shore. Be careful.”

  
She tugged him towards the now-forming ring of people. “No way! You've gotta play too. Everyone should play!”

  
Corrin swam up beside them. “ _Yeeees_! Mandatory Marco Polo! Everybody in!”

  
On the beach, Leo remained where he was. “Hell no.”

  
Elise ran up beside him and grabbed his book. “Yoink! Can't have it back until you pla-ay!” She teased, running backwards through the sand.

  
He tripped over his towel to chase her. “Get back here, you little brat!”

  
His little sister dashed into the shallows, holding the precious paperback over her head. “Take it back or I dive under!”

  
Leo stopped short of the tide. “You wouldn't dare.”

  
Elise giggled evilly. “ _Maaaybe_ I would… Maybe not. Do you really wanna find out?”

  
Niles nudged Odin and whispered something to him. Odin grinned and nodded, then disappeared under the current.

  
Leo looked torn. “Why did I get stuck with this family…”

  
Elise shook the book. “One… Two…”

  
He threw his hands in the air. “Gods! Fine! I'll play your idiotic game!”

  
“RAGING TSUNAMI SABOTAGE!”

  
His blonde retainer burst out of the ocean in front of him, throwing a torrent of water over the prince. Leo stumbled backwards in shock (not screaming, thank the lord, he could never live that down). He pushed a soaking wet lock of hair out of his eyes. “What. The actual. FUCK.”

  
Odin dove back underwater while Niles whistled innocently. Corrin gave him a thumbs up. “That's a good look for you, little bro!”

  
“Shut the hell up, Co-”

  
Camilla shoved him from behind, sending him toppling into the waves. She tapped her lower lip in mock shame. “Oopsies. My hands slipped.”

  
Leo came up gasping for air. “I-” ( _cough_ )- “hate every single one of you.”

  
Kamui treaded up behind him and unhooked his cloak, tossing it onto dry land. She offered him a hand as well, which he begrudgingly accepted. “Sorry, brother. I know you're not fond of this sort of thing, but you really should play…”

  
He glowered at his retainers, then his other sisters. Finally, Leo looked back to Kamui.

  
“I already said I would play, didn't I? Now I just know whose asses to kick.”

___________________________

 

“Here's the rules.”

  
The two eldest princes stood on the shore, everyone else gathered at the water’s edge. Xander traced a box in the sand with a piece of driftwood he'd found nearby. “We've set up the buoy rope around the shallows, so the deepest anyone can make it without hitting that is four and a half feet. This leaves approximately six hundred square feet for everyone to move around in. That should be plenty.”

  
Ryoma nodded. “Whoever is ‘it’ may not open their eyes under any circumstances until they have caught someone. When they do catch somebody, they have five seconds to swim away, and that person must spin in at least one circle with their eyes closed before they go after anyone.”

  
“They can shout whatever they want in place of Marco, and everyone can respond however they want, but they _must respond_. No shoving people in front of yourself for protection, no dragging anyone underwater. If anyone makes an unfair play, we will be the judges.”

  
He tossed the stick to the ground. “Who's going first?”

  
Flora raised her hand. “What the hell, someone has to do it.”

  
“Thank you, Flora.” Ryoma waved everyone off. “In the water, spread out. Three. Two. One. Go!”

  
Flora was off in a flash. “Marco!”  
“Polo!” Yelled everyone but Corrin, who said, “Boring!” And Niles, who said, “Cliche!”

  
Within moments the maid had grabbed Kamui's arm, as the princess could still do little more than shuffle through the water. She laughed, though, and took her turn wholeheartedly, catching Silas after several minutes went by and he began to pity her.

  
“Hey,” Laslow whispered to Odin a few rounds in, “wanna team up? If one of us is about to get caught, the other can cause a distraction.”

  
The blonde smiled at him, raising an eyebrow. “Oh? And how should I be sure that you, Laslow of the Indigo Skies, won't betray me in my most desperate moment?”

  
“Is this proof enough?”

  
He yanked Odin to the side as a blind Sakura wandered by, carefully treading water in her search.

  
“Hmm.” He sank down, ready to push off the seafloor if need be. “Very well, I shall accept your proposal of alliance. Only because I pity the man who doesn't have the power of the insuppressible Odin Dark on his side.”

  
“In that case, I appreciate the honor.” Laslow bowed, though he had to stop short of sticking his face in the salty water.

  
“You don't have to humor him, you know.” Selena had joined them near the edge of the playing range. “Really, it's best not to encourage his weird habits. He should learn to talk like a normal human.”

  
Laslow looked almost offended on his friend’s behalf. “Such things to say, Lady Selena! Do you truly wish to change these aspects of his personality? I, for one, treasure our dear Odin as he is.”

  
The redhead rolled her eyes. “I forgot. You're just as bad as he is. It's like you're meant to be.”

  
“J-Just what is _that_ supposed to mean?!” Xander's retainer quietly hissed after her, but he got no response, and so slunk dejectedly back to Odin, who couldn't quit look him in the eye. 

  
_He's still really upset about that…_

  
“Swim aside, coming through!”

  
Everybody dodged left and right as Niles felt his way around the shallow pool in search of a victim. He didn't seem to be looking for just anyone, though.

  
As he passed the two of them, Laslow whispered, “What are you doing?”

  
“Shh.” Niles kept his eye closed as he carefully worked circles around them in the water. “I'm trying to find Hinata, but I've got no idea where he is. He's good at this game.”

  
Odin blankly replied, “On the other side of the area. To the left and up of you.”

  
Niles gave him a subtle thumbs up as he headed in that direction. Laslow turned to the blonde in surprise. “That's cheating!”

  
“All’s fair in love and war, is it not?”

  
“Are you really sinister or _reeeeally_ sinister?”

  
“I am nothing but Odin Dark, terror to behold,” he responded, sinking under the waves.

  
Laslow pulled him back up by his arm. “Well, terror to behold, you might wanna see this.”

  
Across the water , Niles was slowly closing Hinata into a corner. Everyone else had managed to get out of the way and we're watching from a safe distance, anticipating the young retainer's inevitable doom.

  
At the last moment, the brunette ducked underwater in a desperate attempt to save himself by swimming away. His chaser, seeing this coming, dove down as well.

  
There was a small splash and then Hinata resurfaced, covering his mouth, his face bright red. Niles reappeared beside him, looking quite pleased with himself.

  
“I win.”

___________________________

 

The sun set slowly over the shimmering ocean as its waves lapped gently at the shore. The heavens had turned a pale rose color, tinted with dusty oranges and purples where water met sky.  
Nobody remained in the shallows. Everyone had moved to the beach when dusk began to set in, and most of them were silent as the great golden star sank away to give room for the moon.

  
Kamui rested her head on her towel, her arms folded over her stomach as she stared upwards. It was so serene. Beautiful.

  
She couldn't bring herself to look at the ocean; it reminded her too much of Azura.

  
Where was she now?

  
The young princess reached up, almost as if to brush the stars with her fingertips. Maybe she was catching clouds, as she had when she was young. When her time alone in the fort became too solitary, and she would lie in the field just behind it and wonder what her siblings were doing. Only to find out, years later, that they weren't even related to her. All of her lazy daydreams had been built on lies, hadn't they? For some reason, the sudden thought pissed her off. She was denied a life with her mother, with her family. Even though he had taken her himself, Garon had always hated Kamui. He wouldn't let her into the main castle. He wanted nothing more than to see her suffer.

  
And when she finally did get to see Mikoto, it was too late, wasn't it?

  
She didn't even know her real father. The one who had taken her in as his own died for her. And the one who had stolen her never cared at all.

  
Then, given the choice between her real and adoptive family, she chose to hurt no one. But they all still hated her for it. Branded her a traitor. Everyone but Corrin and Azura cast her aside and sought her end.

  
_Why._

  
Thinking of the past two years, of her entire life, Kamui felt tears build up behind her eyes.

  
_Why did it have to be this way?_

  
She stood up- suddenly realizing that no one was around her, but not caring where they had gone- and ran into the water, grabbing a rock off the shore.

  
She took the stone, sobbing, and threw it at the last sliver of sun. It hit the waves and sank a few yards ahead of her.

  
“WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!” She screamed. At the sky. At the gods. At no one. At fate. “THEY’RE DEAD! ARE YOU HAPPY? DO YOU LIKE WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US?”

  
She fell to her knees, the bottom half of her body completely submerged.

  
“We're all broken,” she whispered. “On the inside, we're all in pieces. We almost tore each other apart. And _fuck_ , we don't know how to put ourselves back together.”

  
A hand was on her shoulder.

  
“Kamui?”

  
It was Corrin.

  
“Everyone else is ready to go… Are you okay?”

  
She took in a deep breath. _We all stopped being okay a long time ago._

“I'm fine,” she said, moving his hand away. “Let's go.”

The sun disappeared completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that last scene was gonna be a cute Kamui/Jakob thing, but that really got thrown out the window :'3  
> More angst, full steam ahead! TOOT TOOT!  
> As for what Niles did to Hinata under the water, I assume it was just a kiss, but tbh he probably grabbed his ass too or something. I'll leave that up to how you want to interpret it.  
> I'm having fun adapting to the characters' personalities. I really like Selena and Peri (and Niles of course God save my soul), so I'm looking forward to future chapters where I can explore them more. In the meantime, I'm finding Laslow and Odin suuuper entertaining to write. I like their unique ways of talking, but I also think (partly from watching their supports, partly just from my own opinion) that they're less formal around each other. Laslow is less refined, maybe somewhat childish, when there are no girls around, and Odin is a bit more easily thrown off his game when it's just him and his bff.  
> Also, Hinata. Is. Adorable.


	5. June 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original plans get thrown out the window when Kamui gets a cold, so everyone has to find other ways to spend their day. In the mountains, Keaton is trying to dodge his obligation as chief to take a mate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My chapter summaries are so boring, keep in mind that the notes section is the informal, more accurate description of the chapter. :'3  
> I'm posting this at 2 am no judging, I'm unbelievably hungry and my lip is bleeding for some reason but I like this chapter so yay??  
> Kamui is stuck in bed, and I once again fail to develop Kaden/Keaton and Leo/Takumi plot lines properly, instead screwing with more incredibly subtle Hinata/Niles and Hana/Selena fluff. Help meeeee  
> Don't worry I'm working on it, next chapter will be more essential I promise I promise  
> Some other stuff: where the hell are the older siblings and half the retainers?? I have no idea. I just keep forgetting to bring them up enough. I have a handful of favorite characters I keep using because I'm not sure how to integrate people who don't have either incredibly salty or incredibly out there personalities.  
> I'll get there, I swear. All the ships will come together. (I have weird ships, have you seen the tags?? Why)

Kamui was sick.

  
“The water wasn't _that_ cold,” she argued as Corrin pushed her back into her hotel room. “I'm fine, it's just allergies.”

  
“You're burning up, and your voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard. You spend today in bed.”

  
“This is such bullshit,” his sister rasped as he tucked the fluffy comforter around her.

  
“Well, maybe you shouldn't have gone all ‘god’s not real, are you happy now?’ On the ocean when the windchill was forty-two degrees.”

  
She turned away. “Fuck off.”

  
Her twin’s teasing tone of voice dropped. “Sorry. I don't mean to make light of what you're going through.”

  
Kamui adjusted her position, propping herself up on her pillows. “I wish you would stop talking like that.”

  
“Like what?”

  
“Like I'm the only one affected by this.”

  
Corrin stiffened. “But you're-”

  
“In pain? Suffering? Dying inside?” She shrugged. “Yeah, I am. Some days I feel like my heart is exploding in my chest until I'm crying so hard that I throw up. The only reason I haven't gone insane and pitched myself off a rooftop yet is because I have you and everyone else to keep me… _all there._ ”

  
Her brother winced. “Is this really gonna turn into one of those talks? I feel like I'm in a teenage drama.”

  
Kamui put her hands up. “Come on, Cor. You're like everyone else here: you all have way too much goddamn pride. But… You need to say when you're not okay.”

  
Corrin leaned against the bedpost. “I'm pretty sure you're overreacting. Everyone has their own ways of dealing with things, and while yours may be screaming at the sun, the rest of us are fine.”

  
“If you call staying up late sobbing into your pillow fine, then I guess you're right.”

  
He pushed off of the wooden post. “No one's doing that.”

  
“I've caught six and counting.”

  
“Who?”

  
“Confidential,” Kamui answered, grabbing her phone off of the bedside table. “Just keep it in mind, ok? And if you're gonna make me stay in bed all day, at least get someone to hang out with me. Drag them kicking and screaming if you have to.”

  
Her twin moved to the exit. “Oh, I can already think of a few who will gladly volunteer,” he said dryly.

  
As he closed the door behind him, he could hear Kamui humming to herself.

___________________________

 

“Corriiin! Is big sister okay?”

  
Corrin ruffled Elise’s hair as he passed her seat. “She's just a little sick. Mild flu or something. She'll be fine tomorrow.”

  
Sakura shuffled past him, setting her plate down beside the other young princess’. “D-does she need company?”

  
Her big brother made a face. “I should hope not. She has Jakob and Silas at her beck and call. She ought to get her own retainer to wait on her…”

  
Flora laughed as he pulled up a chair. “You know I've gladly served Lady Kamui for years, but I'm still not doing anything she doesn't ask of me herself. The less work I have to do, the better.”

  
Kaze glanced at Corrin. “Forgive me for asking, but you almost seem jealous.”

  
The Vallite prince jabbed at his breakfast (basic scrambled eggs and toast; it was supposed to be his and Kamui's day to cook, but he was too lazy to do it in his own and so declared a free-for-all). “I might be, if Jakob was A: my type and B: not straight as a board. Actually, I'm worrying about Silas. Kamui's been kinda neglecting him as a best friend, and I think it's getting to that mega-softie heart of his. I mean, imagine having a crush on someone who means everything to you, but they're blatantly into someone else.”

  
A few tables away, Hana coughed and Odin mumbled something inaudible.

  
“Bros before hos,” Niles said loudly. “Unless your bros and hos are one and the same, in which case everybody wins.”

  
Selena chucked an apple at him, which he easily caught and took a bite out of. She huffed.

  
“All that said, is anyone else going to question the fact that Corrin is eating scrambled eggs with a spoon?” Leo jibed from where he sat at the marble island.

  
“Back off, high-and-mighty. Bros, hos, and friendzones aside, Kamui's unanticipated illness sets our schedule back a whole day.”

  
“How _ever_ will we get through it?” Flora deadpanned.

  
“Which _means_ ,” Corrin continued, “that today, I had free reign over what we do. But because I'm a good person, I give everyone permission to do whatever they want today. The only rule is that whatever that thing is _can't_ be alone. No solitude. Solitude is bad for the soul.”

  
Selena leaned back in her chair. “What if we don't have a soul? I don't have a soul.”

  
“I agree,” Niles added. “This is soul-racist. You're discriminating against the assholes in the room.”

  
“Everyone in this room is an asshole,” Corrin argued, standing up to discard his half-eaten breakfast. “And today, assholery is a sport for two.”

  
“That's what she said.”

  
“Shove it, Niles.”

  
“Gladly, just direct me to the nearest hole.”

  
“This conversation is an abomination to mankind and I refuse to take part in it any longer,” Leo declared, shoving his stool against the underside of the counter.

  
As he stalked towards the exit, Corrin threw a piece of egg at him. “ _No solitude,_ don't you listen? Take someone with you.”  
Leo banged his head against the doorframe. “For the love of God. Whatever. Takumi, let's go.”  
The Hoshidan Prince, who had been eating his breakfast in respectful silence (for once), startled at hearing the order from the other young man and scrambled to his feet. Rather than protesting, he obediently followed Leon out the door.

  
Niles whistled. “Master Leo has that guy on a leash. Color me impressed.”

  
Oboro, who had been trying to ignore the ongoing banter, spoke up in an offended tone. “ _Nobody_ has Lord Takumi on a _leash_ , scum.”

  
“Calm yourself, slushie, nobody's trying to steal your girly crush. Not that they'd have to.”

  
Selena kicked his chair over.

  
Hinata stood to help him up, provoking a deeper scowl from Oboro. Corrin watched the entire scene play out in amusement.

  
“Let's begin the day, shall we?”

___________________________

 

“ _Uuugh."_

  
“Good morning to you too.”

Ava paused for a moment at the entrance of the tent, scanning her surroundings. It was astonishingly cluttered. How did their tribe chief manage to acquire- and maintain- so much garbage so quickly? Honestly. She'd cleaned out his area while he was off on his little crusade with the kitsune chief and the humans, but he'd somehow accomplished completely restocking his stash of ‘treasures’ already in the few days he'd been back. What was one to do with such an absent-minded leader?

  
Keaton rolled out of his cot, only slightly grunting in pain when he hit the dirt floor. “I'm tired. Can't we talk later?”

  
“That's no attitude for chief of the wolfskin to be having, now, is it?”

  
“Again with the chief thing.” He pushed himself up, not bothering to dust off. “Why do I have to act all proper? This is a wild tribe, you know. We're supposed to be a little messy sometimes, right?”

  
“A little.” Ava tapped a makeshift table made of an uprooted tree trunk, which was coated in pebbles, both shiny and dusty. “This is a lot.”

  
“Bigger is better.”

  
“Keep telling yourself that,” she sighed, turning around. “Why won't you just _consider_ taking a mate?”

  
“Why don't _you_?” Keaton retorted, at least as muh as Keaton was capable of sounding retort-ish.

  
Ava’s ears twitched with annoyance. “Don't you like _any_ girls in our tribe? There are plenty suitable young wolfskin who would make fine wives if you actually looked at them.”

  
Keaton’s eyes wandered absently around the tent. “Eh.”

  
“Do you even know all their _names_?”

  
His gaze flickered back to her, squinting. “Ehhh…?”

  
“Unbelievable.”

  
“Hey! Cut me some slack; it's been two years, okay?”

  
A voice sounded from outside. “Is the chief in?”

  
“Yup!” Keaton called cheerfully, meriting a ‘ _that's-not-how-to-talk-like-a-leader_ ’ glare from Ava, which he blatantly ignored.

  
One of the camp guards lifted the leather flap of the tent and peered in. “You have a visitor. The head of the Kitsune tribe.”

  
“Kaden!” He squeaked excitedly, dashing past the guard with his tail wagging like crazy.

  
Ava exhaled slowly as she followed, more of a tired breath than a sigh.

  
“Does he have to be so open about his exuberance?” She grumbled, watching from afar as the bubbly wolfskin bounced on his heels while he chatted animatedly with the fox-blooded chief.

  
This was inevitably going to end badly, for both the tribes and the Chiefs themselves. So why did Keaton seem so determined to cling to this friendship like a sinking raft?

  
It just didn't make any sense.

___________________________

 

“What are you guys doing?”

  
Selena snatched a handful of sour patch kids from the bowl of them sitting on the coffee table. “Binge-watching every Disney princess movie by alphabetical order of princess name.”

  
Niles tapped the remote against his leg. “We're on _Beauty and the Beast_ right now. If you couldn't tell by the fact that Laslow's accent is ten times its normal magnitude.”

  
The dancer didn't notice the remark; he was too busy reciting Lumiere’s lines in perfect unison with the tv. (He and Odin had been going back and forth since the first movie, since they knew every word. Selena had tried throwing things at them, but she gave up halfway through _The Little Mermaid_.)

  
Hana (the one who had asked what they were doing in the first place) looked around the foyer. The Nohrian retainers had arranged themselves around the living room almost like it was a common routine: Selena was on one end of the couch, her legs pulled up to her chest, her back pressed against the armrest. Niles was upside down over the back arch of the sofa, his upper spineand shoulders resting on middle of the cushion. (It looked terribly uncomfortable, but knowing him, he was used to the position.) Laslow was to the right of him, his legs stretched out onto the ottoman, where Odin was lying on his stomach with his chin resting on his hands. Beruka was curled up in an armchair right-angled to the couch with her head tucked into her elbow, eyes focused unwaveringly on the film.

  
The petite brunette noted that the vicinity was rather lacking in blood-crazed, hardcore doll girls. “Where's Peri?”

  
Laslow at last ceased speaking in sync with the animated candlestick. “She thought this was ' _too boring'_ , so she left to play Life with with everyone else.”

  
He frowned disapprovingly at the memory, temporarily forgetting that there were ladies about.

  
Selena shot a dubious look in his direction. “Seriously, Laslow. You act like she's blowing off an important company meeting to get tacos. Maybe she just got tired of hearing all the character’s lines dubbed in with your voice.”

  
Laslow sniffed, gazing away. “If we _were_ a company, she'd be relegated for sure. Demoted to an underling who fetches us tea while we discuss essential things.”

  
“Don't you think she'd poison the drinks?”

  
“Nahhh,” Niles cut in. “If that chick got sick of our shit she'd just pull an axe on us and chop us into bits, Lizzie Borden style.”

  
Odin shushed them, holding up a finger in warning. “They're about to start singing Human Again. Please, refrain from interrupting the creative brilliance that is this performance.”

  
“Well, mind if I join you?” Hana whispered, shifting slightly closer to Selena so as not to interrupt the childish whimsy of Odin’s enrapturement. “I'm not very good at board games, and this looks way more fun anyways. I haven't seen any of these movies in ages.”

  
The redhead shrugged. “Sure, I guess. It'll be nice to have someone sane in the room at least.”

  
Hana inwardly cheered as she sat down in the spare spot on the couch, scooting ever-so-subtly towards Selena. _Go, Hana!_

  
Onscreen, Cogsworth spluttered something at Lumiere with Odin’s voice echoing it shamelessly. Laslow replied in perfect mirror with the suave candlestick. (He could use some pointers; he got less girls than an inanimate object).

  
Niles pointed at the characters, then snagged some sour candies before Selena could stop him. “Those two are _soooo_ gay for each other. I vote candle-on-clock action, ten out of ten performance.”

  
Laslow appeared skeptical. “I don't think so.”

  
“They are, I think,” Beruka murmured from a distance.

  
Niles threw his hands in the air, which looked a bit odd considering the position he was in. “The silent has spoken, and she speaks my language: maximum homo. I declare these cartoons gay and gayer. No take backs. We're all queer here."

  
Laslow groaned, forgetting his lines. “I don't even know what you're saying anymore, but whatever it is, it's not true.”

  
“ _Somebody_ forgot how to talk like a gentleman.”

  
“Would you shut up and just watch the movie?” Selena snapped.

  
Hana snuggled back into the complex embroidery of the couch.

  
She could get used to these people.

___________________________

 

“What was all that shouting I heard earlier?”

  
Corrin rolled over to Kamui’s bed on her chair. “Oh… That would be Peri and Oboro playing The Game of Life. Fun fact, Peri does not sit well with having her ninety-thousand dollar salary swapped for a forty-thousand dollar one. Once their screaming fight had mounted to a full-on money throwing war, we just like of gave up.”

  
“You didn't do anything about it?”

  
He rubbed his neck anxiously. “Uh. Hinata tried to calm them down, but then Oboro turned around and started giving him hell  about Niles. He was suuuuper bewildered. I don't think he had a clue.”

  
Kamui patted the comforter invitingly, and her brother obliged, moving to sit beside her on the bed. “What, that Niles has been coming onto him since day one or that it was pissing Oboro off?”

  
“Both, I think. You know him. He's a badass on the battlefield and unbelievably friendly, but he's a bit oblivious.”

  
“Yeah. Yeah…”

  
“So.” Corrin patted her lap. “How'd your day with salty and sweet go?”

  
“Pff. It was…” She pressed her head against the backboard. “Swear to god you won't tell anyone.”

  
Her twin sat up, instantly at full attention. “ _What?_ I swear. What? What?”

  
“Stop what-ing.” She pushed his shoulder playfully. “I just… Silas asked me out.”

  
“Oh. Oh, _wow_.” Corrin covered his mouth. “For real?”

  
“Kind of.” Kamui’s face flushed faintly. “He took it back as soon as he said it, and he was blushing and stuttering like crazy, so I wasn't even sure I heard him right at first. But it definitely happened.”

  
“Holy shit. I didn't think he'd actually do it.”

  
“I didn't even know he liked me!”

  
“Yeah, well. You were the only one.”

  
Kamui flopped backwards. “Cor."

  
He tilted his chin down at her. “Yeet."

  
She giggled quietly, tracing the flowers on the heavy blanket with her forefinger. “How… How do you know when you're in love with someone?”

  
“Hmm.” He gazed past her, out the window on the other side of the room. “You know, I don't have a lot of experience in being in love.”

  
“Don't bullshit _me_ , Prince Corrin of Valla. I've seen the way you stare at a certain someone. I can't say I understand your taste, but I wish you both happiness if he returns your affections. Now answer my question.”

  
Corrin laughed and turned away from the window. “Okay, how do I explain this. I guess… It's easy tell when you care about someone. But you know you're in love with them in that one moment when they stop meaning something to you… and start meaning everything.”

  
“ _Damn_ , you're good with words…” She sighed. “Cor, I'm in love with Jakob.”

  
“I know.” He squeezed her cheek, a sympathetic smile on his face. “Good luck with that.”

  
He stood up and pushed her chair back to where it belonged by the desk. “I know you can get that smokin’ butler if you go for him. Just let Silas down gently, ‘kay? And… sweet dreams, sis.”

  
The door clicked shut behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the thing okay  
> I really like pop culture references and just making the characters feel more "today" by making them do the kind of stuff we do, such as singing Shut Up and Dance or eating sour patch kids while binging Disney movies. (You do it too.) (don't lie to me.)  
> As for Corrin's crush, if you didn't see the tags, it's Subaki. While he's a bit of a Gary Stu at times, I do like Subaki, at least when he's being less "wheeee I'm perfect!" And more "oh SHIET I'm a loser", like in his supports with Sakura.  
> All things aside, please comment if you like the story! I'd adore absolutely any feedback you have to offer, especially your opinions on some of the pairings and what you think of the character portrayal. Constructive criticism is my favorite thing, outside of gay Fire Emblem characters and dolphin people. :D


	6. June 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The groups split up a bit for a trip to the mall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the most basic possible summary I could come up with?  
> I skipped out on another shapeshifter section in favor of one for Flora and Kagero (and Feliecia :'3). There's also a hint at Corrin and Subaki, but they don't get their own section (so sad).  
> Also, there's a kiss in this chapter! I can't say who it's between, though, you'll know that soon enough~

“Back on schedule!”

  
As Kamui smoothed her white sundress down to rid it of wrinkles, Corrin stepped out of his room. “You're lucky I couldn't find anything mall-related to throw at you, or you'd be on the floor right now.”

  
Leo rolled his eyes on his way to the elevator, passing between the twins. “Is throwing things _really_ necessary so early in the morning? Some people are the still trying to sleep.”

  
Takumi followed, nose turned up at the blonde prince’s back. “I wouldn't complain if someone threw something at _you_ every once in awhile, ‘great prince’.”

  
“Excuse me, but somebody did, just yesterday.” With this statement he scowled at Corrin, who shrugged indifferently.  
“You had that egg coming.”

  
Kamui smiled. It hadn't even been a week, but this already felt like a routine. And she liked routine- even if that meant greeting every dawn with her twin’s threats and her adoptive brothers’ petty insults. Ironically, it made her feel closer to them. _Better this than standing on opposite sides of the battlefield, right?_

  
Rather than waiting for the elevator, Kamui opted to take the stairs to the first floor. (She had spent an entire day in bed; she could use a bit of exercise.) Corrin followed, hopping down the steps two at a time. “So, where are you planning on going first tod-"

  
His sister held up a hand, silencing him. “Do you hear someone talking?” She hissed.

  
He moved up level with her, straining his ears. Sure enough, there were voices ahead. He beckoned for her to walk behind him, creeping quietly up to where the stairs turned a corner.

  
“It's a basic question, simple enough for a commoner to understand. Are you truly so incapable of answering it?”

  
Jakob was standing on the landing below them, interrogating a rather flustered-looking Silas. Kamui's eyes widened in surprise. What exactly was going on here?

  
The knight bit his lip. “I-it's a little complicated… And personal…”

  
“My word. Honestly. Did you or did you not request that Lady Kamui accompany you on a ‘date’?”

  
“Oh, _snap_ ,” Corrin mouthed beside her.

  
She inwardly groaned. This was _not_ helping her situation. She didn't even think to wonder if Jakob might have been eavesdropping the previous day.

  
“Well, I did, but I took it back before she said anything so it doesn't really count… I don't think,” Silas mumbled.

  
“Your vast abundance of nescience is almost overwhelming,” Jakob growled. “How could you ask such a thing of the princess? And in that informal way- your etiquette is truly appalling.”

  
Silas fidgeted under the butler’s disapproving gaze. “Look, I know I'm no Prince Charming…”

  
“Quite,” Jakob muttered in agreement.

  
“But I really like Kamui,” he continued, blushing even more deeply at his own confession. “Just to see a smile on her face, I would do anything. I might not be good enough for her, but I'd give her everything I have.”

  
Kamui didn't realize she was shaking until Corrin rested his hand on her back. She felt overwhelmed with guilt. How did he even like her, after how ignorant she had been towards his feelings?

  
Jakob sighed. “While your sickeningly saccharine devotion does make me… Ugh. _Pity you_ , I cannot falter in this sense. You are simply incapable of bestowing upon Lady Kamui that which she is entitled to as a royal. Your simpleton guard rank- and lack of formal manner- cannot allow it. I was willing to overlook your companionship with her, but attempting to take your relationship any further than that is strictly forbidden. The only way I might think twice about it is if the princess herself expressed a direct interest in courting you. Until then- not that I believe it will happen- I ask that you keep all actions towards her platonic. If you do not comply, I have my ways, hero.”

  
Silas listened, looking vaguely miserable throughout the speech, and flinching at the biting tone with which the butler voiced the final word. “I… Understand. If Kamui really liked me in that way, she would just say so. I promise, I'll act only as her friend from now on.”

  
“Thank you.” Jakob adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves and nodded to the knight before descending the stairwell, leaving him alone by the railing.

  
Kamui fell back against the wall with a muffled thump. “He's not even my servant. Why does he act like it's his duty to decide what's good enough for me?”

  
Corrin smiled wryly. “The shoe is on the other foot now, huh? You know Jakob. Maybe since your remaining retainer is kind of a lazy bitch sometimes-” Kamui snorted indignantly (“Flora is _not_ lazy or a bitch!”)- “he feels the need to watch over you. Especially since I don't really need him anymore. Besides, you're the one constantly hanging onto his arm like a little kid, so perhaps he's developed a sense of protection towards you. I'm just amazed he tolerated you in the first place.”

  
His twin exhaled, a mix of a sigh and a whine. I guuuess… You know what the worst part of it is?”

  
“You're still deliriously attracted to him?”

  
“ _Yes_ ,” she wailed quietly.

  
“Do your loins burn with desire?”

  
“Oh my god shut up.”

  
He patted her face. “Don't worry, sis. Your weird fantasies are safe with me.”

  
She pushed his hand away, face pink. “ _There are no weird fantasies_. Stop talking.”

  
“Kamui?”

  
She jumped in surprise and turned while her brother glancing lazily to the landing at Silas, who had finally noticed them.

  
“’Sup, Silas?” Corrin flashed him a peace sign and continued on his way downstairs. “I'll leave you two to chat. We leave in a half hour, don't keep us waiting.”

  
“Be down in a minute,” Kamui called after him. She looked awkwardly back at Silas- who, to his credit, was no longer the color of a ripe strawberry. “So hey, good morning.”

  
“G-good morning.” Gods, this was embarrassing. Couldn't they just have a normal conversation? “Um. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out at the mall today for a little while? We could do whatever you want. I was just thinking since we haven't been able to talk very much lately…”

  
“Yeah! Yeah, that sounds really fun.” Kamui beamed at him, relieved when he smiled timidly back.

  
_Gods show me how not to break his heart._

_____________________________

 

Flora skeptically studied everyone as they grouped off in the parking lot. “This feels off.”

  
Felicia stumbled out of the car behind her. “W-what feels off?”

  
Her twin tapped her chin, analyzing each little ‘team’ once again. _How odd_ , she observed thoughtfully. _It looks as if people are beginning to branch out into their opposite nations_.

  
Thank the gods; all the tension was putting her in a less than friendly mood.

  
“Well, I guess it's just us today. Let's get going. Kamui and Corrin are both already in groups, and I'd like to take our leave before Jakob finds out and tracks us down.” She hiked her purse farther up onto her shoulder and started towards the giant building.

  
“Pardon my intrusion, but would you mind if I joined you?”

  
Flora paused and glimpsed to the side where Kagero stood, giving the Hoshidan retainer a quick once-over before meeting Felicia’s eyes in a silent question of, “is she cool?”

  
Her sister shot her a shaky thumbs-up, to which she shrugged and shot Kagero a slight nod. “Sure.”

  
The dark-haired woman returned this gesture with a slight smile of grateful sincerity. “My thanks.”

  
“No problem.”

  
Flora had already resumed her brisk pace, forcing the other two to lengthen their strides and catch up to her. She stopped briefly at the front of the building to take a snapshot of the mall layout map with her phone. “It's only nine, but we didn't really get to eat breakfast before we rushed out the door. How about soft pretzels, my treat?”

  
“Sure!” Felicia said cheerfully.

  
Kagero simply replied, “That would be lovely.”

  
The food court was just inside the entrance, so Flora ushered the pair to get a table while she bought the snacks. “Try to find seats a bit out of the way, so nobody we know spots us."

  
When she returned with the food (cheesy for Felicia, cinnamon for Kagero, and a classic salted pretzel for herself), her sister and their newly acquired companion had sought seating near the giant water fountain, on a bench well-concealed by several large potted plants. She handed off the treats and sat down between them, crossing her legs at the knees.

  
After taking a savory first bite, she turned to Kagero. “So, why did you ask to join us?”

  
The brunette pondered thoughtfully for a moment, then swallowed and answered, “The basic aspect was simply that I usually accompany either Saizo or Kaze while on these trips, but today they decided to join each other, so I chose to leave them to some much-needed reconciliation time.”

  
Felicia nodded warmly. “That's nice of you to do. And I'm glad to hear that they're trying to reconnect more. Siblings, especially twins, have a bond that shouldn't be tossed aside for anything.”

  
“Well put,” Flora agreed, squeezing her sister’s arm affectionately, “but it still doesn't explain why joining us was the first option.”

  
“That's due to one simple fact: I do not know the two of you as well as I do everyone else, and so I opted to request to spend the day with you. I am interested in learning more about both of you, so that perhaps we may become friends in the future.”

  
Felicia giggled in her shy, bubbly way. “It's funny, even though I grew up in the Hoshidan capital and have known you since you became Lord Ryoma's retainer, we never really talked, did we? Still, I think I could already call you a friend. Right, Flora?”

  
The blue-haired maid met Kagero’s eyes with a level gaze, her lips showing the scant beginnings of a grin. “Yes, I suppose so. I wouldn't buy pretzels for just anybody.”

  
The Hoshidan’s face practically glowed with subdued delight. “It gladdens me to hear that.”

  
Kagero had to admit to herself, she was surprised. Felicia was just as she'd always seemed; a bit clutzy at times but very endearing and eager to please. The real shock was due to her sister. While Flora was a bit icy (no pun intended), the temper Kagero had anticipated had yet to honestly assert itself in the maid’s disposition. Though she had a cool attitude (again, no pun intended) and was somewhat analytical of those around her, she seemed unexpectedly docile now. Perhaps it was the lack of stimuli such as Corrin and Kamui, but it seemed almost as if the entire atmosphere of Flora’s psyche was much more calm, even _serene_ , than Kagero originally believed it to be. Granted, she had done everything she could to avoid the rest of the party, but that much was understandable in its rights- even Xander and Ryoma’s patience had appeared to run thin from the constant antics of those residing in the hotel, and it had only been six days so far.

  
When they finished their snack (breakfast), the three women stood to dispose of their wrappers and continue on their way through the mall, admiring the variety of stores and chatting easily away. As one who had never spent a large amount of time simply trying to enjoy herself and relax with other girls, Kagero found this an oddly refreshing change from her usual crowd.

  
It made some part of her heart that she had never paid mind to very happy.

___________________________

 

“So… What are we supposed to do for five hours?”

  
Leo leaned against the water fountain, staring at his phone. “Don't ask me. I was as against coming here as you were.”

  
Takumi tucked his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. “Okay, how about the fact that whenever you're forced to partner up with someone, you choose me? What's up with that?”

  
“What, don't you like finally being chosen for something by reasons other than pity?”

  
This statement earned him a cold glare from the other prince, to which he just laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “I have my reasons. You're much more tolerable than everyone else, with their insufferable friendly chit-chat. Plus, you're easy to make fun of. And I'm pretty sure nobody else wants me in their group anyways.”

  
Takumi crossed his arms. “What if _I_ don't want you?”

  
“You haven't said turned me down even _once_ yet, have you?” Leo answered, poking the other’s shoulder mockingly as he stood up straight. “Come on, I suppose we should find something to do other than stand around running our mouths. If we run into Corrin or Kamui, they're bound to give us an earful about ‘not taking advantage of this opportunity to enjoy ourselves ‘ and blah blah blah.”

  
He took off walking down the stretched hallway, Takumi close behind him.

  
“Do you just enjoy pissing me off?”

  
“How funny you should ask, in fact, there is nothing I enjoy more.”

  
“What happened to temporary allies?”

  
Leo's gaze wandered back to the Hoshidan. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right?”

  
“An interesting platitude to use, considering its ironic origins.”

  
“Oh, shove off.”

  
“Ha ha.” Takumi stuck out his tongue teasingly. “How's that for big words, Headband?”

  
The blonde tipped his head back to view the skylight overhead. “ _Uuugh_. Does this banter qualify us as friends?”

  
“I should hope not.”

  
“I said the same, but Corrin is convinced that we're…” He visibly shuddered. “Growing fond of each other's company.”

  
“Well,” Takumi reminded him, “Corrin is the greatest fool on the face of the planet, so.”

  
“You raise a fair point. He's a blatant idiot.”

  
They both grew quiet, slowly wandering past the various table setups and window displays while pop songs blared faintly over the mall speakers. The building was surprisingly empty (probably because it was a Tuesday morning in early June, but still unusual), so there were few passerby conversations to pester their thoughts, but also less crowds to hide in if people they knew tried to seek them out. Leo figured that the odds of them running into someone from their group were a depressing 79% throughout the entire day if they continued browsing the hallways, but only about 50% of those would actually try to talk to them, so it was more like 39.5%. All the same, anything above 0% was an unsettling percentage, so he nudged Takumi's elbow with his own. “Where should we go?”

  
The prince almost jumped back at the touch, but stopped himself. “I'm not one for shopping, but I suppose the least depressingly dull option would be a book store.”

  
“Barnes  & Noble it is,” Leo declared, changing direction towards the escalator that led to the nearest route to the store.

  
He almost took Takumi’s sleeve to drag him along, but remembered who he was and didn't.

  
He would follow on his own, after all.

___________________________

 

This already felt like a mistake.

  
Kamui watched Corrin say something to Jakob, who looked her way and then nodded somewhat begrudgingly to his liege. What was being said about her? About _her and Silas?_

  
While she trusted her brother not to ruin things for her, seeing the small exchange made her stomach hurt.

  
As much as she wanted to spend the day with Jakob… Silas had asked first. So it was only fair to accept his invitation, was it not?

  
Then again, what if it was meant to be an extension of his fumbled request from the day prior? Did he think of this as a date? Would _Jakob_ think of it as a date if he saw them?

  
Gods above, she was not good at this. No wonder teenage girls were so snippy all the time, having to deal with such dilemmas as how a few guys viewed a situation. It didn't sound like a big deal, but Kamui had not the slightest of ideas how to think like a man, much less two different gentlemen who were about as far from each other on the spectrum as was possible.

  
Now she wished she'd thought a bit more before saying yes.

  
On the other hand…

  
Kamui tipped her head forward, peeking to the side to study Silas’ face. She had to confess that she'd a been terribly neglectful best friend, and even if she didn't like him in that way, Silas was still near and dear to her heart. His shy, sweet temperance, his thoughtfulness, his tendency to put the princess before himself… They were all undeniably admirable and wonderful traits. Plus, she couldn't object to the fact that he was pretty cute (though he could probably do something else with that hairstyle).

  
Really, Silas was the total package, and any girl would be lucky to have him. He was almost literally the boy next door.

  
If only he hadn't feelings for her. The last thing Kamui wanted to do was turn away her childhood bestie, especially knowing that, though he denied it, he probably already felt stung by the fact that she didn't remember him. It felt like too much rejection for such a kind person to have to deal with.

  
Alas, it had to be done. Saying no now was far better than leading him on in false hope, after all.

  
She was startled out of this complicated thought process by Silas’ voice. “So, Kamui, where would you like to go first?”

  
Scratching her arm out of embarrassment by her distraction, she glanced around the central plaza. “Well, we should probably save any big shopping for later, so we don't have to carry the bags around all day… What about checking out the candle shop? It might be a little strange-sounding, but I swear I could smell candles all day long if I had enough time.”

  
Silas laughed lightly. “No, that's not strange at all. Sure, we'll go there first.”

  
The first few hours went by quickly, with little to no awkward moments.

  
On their way out of a silly novelty store, Kamui spotted a photo booth in the center of the long walkway. She tugged Silas’ sleeve, dragging him towards it. “I've always wanted to use one of these! Come on, we've gotta do it!”

  
“Okay, okay, I can walk there without being led like a puppy, you know,” he joked.

  
The princess entered the booth and patted the space on the bench beside her. “But you  _are_ like a puppy, Silas.”

  
“Oh? I guess you're not exactly wrong.”

  
Kamui fed the machine a dollar and clapped excitedly as the instruction screen popped up. She chose a basic border for their photo strip, and the camera countdown began.

  
She leaned against his shoulder, both of them smiling.

  
_Whir, click, flash._

  
She squished her cheeks between her palms and puckered her lips like a fish, and he stuck his tongue out and made a face to match.

  
_Whir, click, flash._

  
She threw her arms around his neck in and laughed at his surprise, creating a funny but sentimental moment.

  
_Whir, click, flash._

  
He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

  
She tumbled backwards and ran out of the booth.

  
_Whir, click, flash._

_____________________________

 

“I really don't know why I agreed to follow you people.”

  
“Aww, come on,” Hinata insisted, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. “This is gonna be so awesome!”

  
“As ‘awesome’ as the rest of the day?” She griped, hunching her shoulders and crossing her arms like an annoyed teenager.

  
“Well, _I_ enjoyed myself,” Hana replied almost tartly, stepping forward as the short line moved.

  
“Yeah, don't act so P.O.ed.” Niles shook his cup of arcade tokens at her for emphasis. “Everyone else is having a great time, there's no need to act like a jellyfish on its period.”

  
“Oh, don't _you_ even start with me.”

  
“Jellyfish don't even _have_ periods,” Selena muttered from somewhere ahead of them.

  
“I'll believe it when you google it!”

  
“Siri confirms the fact! Jellyfish do not experience menstruation,” Odin declared, thrusting his phone triumphantly in the air.

  
“Do jellyfish even have blood?”

  
“Of course they have blood, you idiot.”

  
“How do jellyfish have babies?”

  
“I think they just kind of split apart.”

  
“That's absolutely ridiculous.”

  
“Nobody asked your opinion, you fucking sea anemone.”

  
Oboro stood to the side, a look of incredulity on her face. _Is this conversation actually happening? In a public area?_

  
“As interesting as jellyfish sex is, this is not the time nor place for it,” Niles finally said. “We are here to play arcade games and possibly convince Oboro that she needs to stop being racist.”

  
“I am not racist!” The retainer snapped, balling her fists in a show of near-childish defiance.

  
“All I hear is a challenge to beat me at Pacman. Two out of three. Winner takes all tickets.”

  
She opened her mouth the protest, but then closed it again. Arguing would do her no good at this point; and besides, she had to do _something_ for the next two hours. Plus, as long as Niles was playing against her, he wasn't flirting with Hinata, and that was her prime objective in tagging along with this group. (It hadn't worked all day; her fellow retainer absolutely adored him for some reason.)

  
“Fine. Fine, I'll play. And I'll kick your ass while I'm at it, scum.”

  
“You left out the Nohrian,” Niles answered with a grin. “We're already making progress.”

  
There was no two-player Pacman machine, but there were two one-player machines right next to each other, so they took up their places and each inserted a token. Everyone but Peri and Hinata wandered off to other places (Hinata remaining as moral support to both of them, Peri because she wanted to challenge the winner).

  
Oboro easily beat him the first round.

  
Then the second.

  
And the third.

  
Niles put his hands up in defeat. “You have bested me. Too bad I don't really give a shit. Buy yourself something nice with the tickets.”

  
With that he walked away (Hinata following, gods damn the both of them), leaving Oboro to collect her winnings while Peri clapped. “Whoo-hoo, competition! I bet I can beat you!”

  
Oboro was seriously tempted to trail the abandoners to make sure nothing happened between them, but she had to admit that she was having _just a little bit_ of fun. Maybe Peri wouldn't be as bad at the game as Niles was, and she'd actually have a bit of a challenge. And there weren't any other games that looked particularly interesting…

  
“You're on.”

  
She shoved another token into the machine slot.

  
It didn't occur to her until an hour later, when she and Peri were on their forty-eighth round, that Niles had thrown the match.

___________________________

 

“Kamui?”

  
The princess pressed herself against the sickly gray door, panicking. “I'm not here.”

  
“My poor little Kamui.” Outside the bathroom stall, Camilla knocked on the stiff material. “Please get out of there, dear.”

  
“How did you find me?”

  
Her big sister ‘tsked’, but coming from her it was more of a soft cooing sound. “Hinoka and I were on our way to meet Sakura and Elise in the food court when we ran into Silas, alone. I knew you were supposed to be with him, but when I asked where you were he got terribly upset and said you'd run off about an hour ago, and that he couldn't find you anywhere. Knowing him, that poor boy scoured the whole place searching for you… I knew you must be in one of the bathrooms, so I told Hinoka to go on without me and came looking for you. This is the third one I've been to.”

  
Kamui winced. She'd been so rude earlier… But what else could she do?

  
_Gods help me, I basically ended a war but I don't know how to tell a boy I don't like him without hurting his feelings._

  
“Darling, won't you please exit this dreadful stall?”

  
Kamui tentatively slid the metal lock to the right and pushed the door open, her palm flat against the grainy plastic surface. Already she felt herself tearing up and tried to resist it. What right did she have to cry? Silas hadn't done anything to wrong her. He'd just misread her feelings for him. Though after his interrogation from Jakob that morning, she wondered where he got the audacity to try to kiss her.

  
“Oh, you poor thing.” Camilla pulled her into a tight hug, which Kamui accepted easily, burying her face in her sister’s shirt. “Tell me what happened.”

  
“Do I have to? It's humiliating,” she sniffled, muffled by the fabric.

  
“Only if you want to, little one.”  
“I'm not little.”

  
“You will always be little to me, silly dear.”

  
Kamui giggle-sobbed. “He… he tried to kiss me.”

  
“Goodness.” Camilla huffed quietly. “Knowing it might upset you? What a thing to do! And here I always thought Silas was such a nice, polite boy…”

  
“What're you guys doing in there?”

  
Kamui’s head snapped towards the voice, causing her to somewhat pull away from Camilla’s grip. “Corrin! What the hell are you doing?”

  
“Looking for you, stupid. Everyone's waiting, and I wasn't sure where you were.”

  
“Well, could you give us a minute?” His twin was glaring at the entrance, which didn't do much good because the only thing there was a wall.

  
“If you don't get out, I'm coming in.”

  
Camilla crossed her arms. “Have some respect for womanhood, little brother! Our darling Kamui is having a dilemma, and you shouldn't hinder her emotions!”

  
“You asked for it.”

  
Corrin walked around the corner and leaned against the sinks. “Silas finally tried to put the moves on you, huh? That's gutsy as fuck.”

  
“C-Cor! _Get out!_ What if someone sees you?” She paused for a moment, processing his words. “And shut up! he _did not_ ‘put the moves on me’, you sleeze!”

  
“No one will see me. I've got Subaki, Laslow, and Odin standing guard. Any girl who walks by will either be too charmed to enter or too disturbed to move any closer.”

  
“Let's just go. I don't feel like crying anymore, thanks to you.”

  
Kamui pushed on his shoulder and he gave in, leaving the restroom with both sisters behind him. “You're welcome, sis.”

  
“I didn't mean it in a good way,” his twin muttered.

  
She paused and did a double take. As Corrin had said, the three were patiently standing lookout, but Subaki was carrying at least six shopping bags, Odin had a stuffed snake draped around his shoulders, and Laslow was clutching a giant blue teddy bear.

  
“What's with the…?” She trailed off, twirling her finger at the odd accessories.

  
“Laslow is the undefeatable master of Dance Dance Revolution,” Odin enthused. “His brilliant footwork gained him incomparable riches in the form of arcade tickets.”

  
“I guess I am pretty good at DDR,” his companion said, blushing. “But I've just had a fair bit of practice, that's really all.”

  
Despite her own less-than-great day, Kamui smiled. “Well, at least some people were able to have fun. I guess this was a good idea.”

  
Corrin nodded, taking a few of the bags from Subaki. “We should hang out here again, once everyone's wallets have recovered.”

  
“Speak for yourself, little brother,” Camilla purred. “Some of us know how to handle our money and still be exceptionally fashionable.”

  
Kamui laughed weakly as she followed the others back to the parking lot.

  
She managed not to see Silas for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never said the kiss would be between one of the confirmed couples, did I?  
> Poor Silas. I'm a bad person.


	7. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're just thoughts, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoooah Sin, what're you doing here? Are you changing up your chapter style? Did you just change your chapter number from 61 to undetermined?  
> YOU BET YOUR ASS I DID  
> I decided I'm going to do occasional interludes into the thoughts of various characters or maybe to explain some backstory through their own minds.   
> Also I'm going back to update the chapters with spacing but HOT DOG my head has been hurting the past few days and my lovely hypochondria-inclined brain is convinced I have cancer (yeah it's stupid I know but hEY brains suck) and boy that's a lot of pressing the enter button...  
> Moving on! I hope you don't mind me screwing with the formatting of this by breaking away from the "day per chapter thing" but I felt like I was forcing things a bit.   
> To see some more explanation stuff, skip to the notes down there~ V

“You can tell someone they're beautiful. Let them know of their perfection. Go above and beyond for them. Do whatever you can to make them happy, to fill them with joy. Put them above everyone else. They are your sun and your moon. They are your stars and your earth.   
“But they are not your sky.”

“What is my sky?”

The man looked down at his student, then turned away with a faint laugh. “Be your own sky. Only a fool makes another human his goal in life.”

“Why?”

“Any goal can be reached if you fight hard enough. Lie to someone, say you love them if it benefits your name. Put others below you. Don't let your childish desire for another pull you down.”

He slammed his hand down on the table, and the boy flinched. The man scoffed and turned away, disgust in his voice. “You're still weak. If you stopped letting your heart control you like a puppet, perhaps you would understand my words. Until you learn how to think properly with your mind alone, you are no son of mine.”

The door slammed behind him before the boy could stutter his reply- “I-I'm sorry, Father.”

He looked back at himself in the mirror. Messy hair. Too thin. Weak legs, weaker arms. _You're pathetic,_ he told himself. _You're a mess. You're sickening. No- you're just sick._

He made his face into a slate. He could draw whatever emotion he wanted on it. Nobody else had any say in how he felt. Nobody else could see what went on in his head.

And when he looked at someone else, they were distant. Like clouds. They drifted by, and they took all shapes and forms, and he couldn't reach them. He never tried. He had no desire to chase daydreams. _Grow up. You have the tactical advantage. Make a choice only based on how it benefits you. You don't have to feel for them._

They were all clouds, and then there was another. There was someone who took up his field of vision, even when they stood behind the others. And they didn't drift along, and they didn't change shape. They were every shape, no shape. They were just there, taking up too much space in his field of sight for him to be comfortable, and they changed colors and gods, every single one was beautiful. They bled and mixed and hurt his head to see. And he told himself over and over again, _you can't control how I feel. I feel nothing._

He felt pain. It was the only thing he felt, it was the only thing he let himself feel, because it was the only way to get stronger.

But now he didn't feel pain. Around this person, he felt something like... He didn't know. It wasn't something he recognized, though; it was something he'd only felt fleetingly in years. 

It scared him.

He had a sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: despite my lack of stating name, if you don't know or at least think you might know who's mind we're seeing here, you haven't played this game XD  
> "Whaaat?? But Sin. Sin stop. He can't be in love because we're only sIX DAYS IN DANGIT!"  
> I KNOW I KNOW IM RUSHING THINGS  
> here is a fact: he is not in love. YET. Right now he is just experiencing a feeling of someone who understands him and who he doesn't see as simply another paper doll in the world around him, and it's confusing for him, poor child  
> Here is another fact, to help clarify the rate at which I am developing the many romances in this story. I don't know yet who will get together first even. But most of them either see people as friends, beginning crushes, or hECK TO THE NO THAT PERSON IS GRODY GET AWAYs. XD  
> The only person who is in love with anyone is Odin (Owain), and that's because he's infatuated with his best friend while just about everyone else only met their counterparts during the war.   
> Oh! Actually, Corrin is in love with Subaki, something I've neglected to mention because I think Corrin refuses to mention it himself. 
> 
> One more thing, since several people have mentioned it and I wanted to explain my reasoning a bit better. Flora is a bit not-herish as I write her, and that's because I simply haven't seen into her character enough. I wish we saw more of her in the games, but the most prominent thing I remember about her is that she fuckin SETS HERSELF ON FIRE in the Hoshidan route. I think Flora has a lot of pride and is very analytical of those around her to determine whether they are capable of hurting her or her family, even when around friends. And as someone who is very much an anxiety freak, I think this would make her kind of an asshole at times, and I guess it is a bit straying from her canon personality, but I just kind of went with it XD  
> M o v i n g o n  
> I look forward to continuing this asap, hopefully my head clears up this weekend so I can write more~


	8. June 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shapeshifter tribes hold a tournament. Kamui and Silas attempt to talk things out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uuuugh. I hate chapter summaries. They're so bland :P  
> If anyone wasn't sure, Ava, the wolfskin that keeps bugging Keaton, is made up. I just poofed her into existence for the sake of plot. And she's a bit of a pyromaniac, as you will see in this chapter.  
> (uh, yeah. she's gonna set stuff on fire. oooo, minor spoiler.)  
> in the first section there's a lot of underwear talk, and Kamui's humor gets a little bit pg 13. (just a little. but it's a teen rating, guys, c'mon. we've been reading Niles for a while now.) Just wanted to warn you in case you thought she was going to continue being the flustery little victim to her brother's lewd remarks, nope.   
> I tried to focus a little more on developing her relationship with her brother and Silas in this chapter, since as you know, they're two very important people to her. I don't know how I did, but I think it was okay. Let me know~

To his credit, Corrin could keep a secret. 

 

“Jakob would beat his ass for this, you know.”

 

Kamui grimaced. “That's exactly what I'm worried about.”

 

“He just talked to him about it yesterday morning…”

 

“It was a bit overly-confrontational, though,” she insisted, folding a shirt and setting it in the laundry basket nearby. “Just… Don't mention it to anyone, okay? I'll sort everything out.”

 

“Eh. Fine, if you say so.” Corrin sighed, then glanced over at her. “Aren't there two laundry rooms?”

 

His sister put another shirt away.  “Mmhm.”

 

“Aren't we the ones who made the rule about doing male and female laundry separately?”

 

She held up a dark blue pair of embroidered pants, contemplating them interestedly. “Yuppers. I'm gonna have to ask Oboro to accent my jeans. She can sew floral patterns like nobody’s business.”

 

Corrin scratched his neck. “Shouldn't we follow that rule?”

 

Kamui laughed. “Corrin, please. Are  _ you,  _ of all people, suggesting that we follow the rules  _ we  _ made? It's not as if any of this stuff is actually secret. I know what everyone’s underwear looks like.” 

 

She held up a lacy black bra, at least double-D sized. “Like. Hm. Whose could this be?”

 

Her twin shoved her, giggling and red-faced. “Female clothing doesn't count, stupid. How do you think most of the guys here would feel if they knew I had let you see their tighty-whities?”

 

“ _ Hot and bothered,”  _ Kamui said, stressing each syllable in a rolling accent. “Well. Hot and _ or  _ bothered.”

 

“And you think  _ I'm _ the one with a sick mind?”

 

“Honestly, Cor. I've been annoying Leo all my life, and after a certain number of years following him extended to following him and his retainers. All that exposure to Niles was bound to make me an inveterate kinkshamer.”

 

“Fair point.” Corrin threw a balled-up pair of socks at her. “But I still think we should be following the rule, in case we get caught.”

 

“Let ‘em catch us.” His sister wrapped a dryer-warmed plush towel around herself like a babushka and flopped down into a pile of washcloths and tanktops. “See if they like it when I hurl one if Camilla’s monster-bras at their face.”

 

___________________________

 

There was something strange about Keaton. 

 

Ava always knew it; she wasn't sure if anyone else did, of course, she didn't ever bring it up  because one does not gossip about their leader behind his back. 

 

But he was definitely off. Maybe it was a good thing, maybe not. No matter the morals of it, Keaton was not quite like the other wolfskins. He was open and friendly with the kitsune and humans alike, and while it was an honorable and sometimes useful aspect of his personality, it was getting a bit too obvious for her liking. Keaton was way too clingy when it came to Kaden, and something needed to be done about it. Such an openly adoring friendship between them was interfering in the safety and health of her tribe, and she would not stand for it. 

 

The ostensible reason for Ava suggesting this little tournament was simple entertainment, a celebration of the two Chiefs finally coming home. 

 

The ulterior reason was to launch her plan into action. 

 

She looked on in abhorrence as Keaton threw his arms around Kaden in their usual greeting, his tail wagging manically. How he was the son of the once-refined leader of the wolfskin, she didn't know. He'd thrown away all of the pride of their race simply so he could go on childish little adventures with a beauty-obsessed fox, neither of them ever thinking about the greater good of their civilizations. 

 

How  _ disgustingly  _ dishonorable. Nevertheless, she politely dipped her head to the kitsune chief and smiled tightly at his subjects. Cowards, the lot of them. 

 

And so the tournament was to begin. 

 

Keaton and Kaden sat down on the warm patch of grass beside each other (no surprise there) with the rest of their respective tribes speeding out in a semicircle on either side of them. A bare plot of dirt in the center of the group served for the grounds of the “friendly tournament”, a line drawn down the middle to split the area in half. 

 

The first round was a game of tug-o-war between the two strongest shapeshifters from each tribe. The second was a no-fangs no-claws tussling match, and so on and so forth. Neither side could keep ahead of the other; they continuously tied, not that either side really cared. It was all just for fun, after all. 

 

At one point, Ava snuck away from the crowd. The festivities were being held a ways away from the two camps, something she had arranged to her benefit. She crept into the wolfskin village and ducked through the entrance of Keaton’s tent, searching for something. 

 

_ Where oh where could you be… Aha.  _

 

She snatched up a half-empty box of matches, grinning to herself. Keaton had kept the item in his collection only because he thought it was an interesting trinket, but Ava knew it had other uses. Finally, her chief’s tendency to gather trash served a purpose. 

 

She plucked two of the small matchsticks from the container and tossed it aside, holding the tiny firemakers up in front of her. “Perhaps you can solve my problem.”

 

_________________________________________

 

“Dude.” Kamui nudged Corrin with her foot, kneeling on her bed to see out the window. “You gotta see this fire.”

 

Corrin rolled over to her with a small huff. “Hm? Oh, wow.”

 

In the distance, two wide pillars of smoke were rising into the sky,clouding the mountain forest with gray. Corrin couldn’t tell exactly how far away the fire (fires?) was, but he guessed it was far enough for them not to be affected. Still, the dots of flickering orange and red in the trees were a bit concerning.

 

“That’s one hell of a burn… Should we call someone?”

 

“What? Why?” Kamui didn’t look away from the window, mesmerized.

 

“What do you mean, why? It’s a huge-ass forest fire. Clearly, something should be done.” He nabbed his cell phone from Kamui’s pillow, standing up. “I don’t know if they have a fire department around here, or if they’re willing to go all the way out there… Ugh. I’ll be right back. I’m gonna go check this with Xander and Ryoma.”

 

He wandered out of the room, leaving the door wide open behind him. His sister just nodded, folding her arms to lean on the windowsill. The layers of smoke billowed out around the mountain, swirling into the clouds like a dark storm.  _ It must be a mess of flames and fear out there, but from here, it’s just quiet and beautiful. How strange.  _

 

Behind her, someone cleared their throat. Kamui turned her head to see Silas lingering awkwardly in the vacant doorway, looking like her couldn’t decide whether to step into the room or not.

 

“Hey,” he murmured tentatively.

 

“Uh, hey,” Kamui said, turning fully around to lean against the heavy glass. “What’s up?”

 

Silas glanced warily around the room, causing her to laugh. “Here. Come sit at the desk. And close the door behind you; don’t be like my brother.”

 

He did as he was told, settling himself on the desk chair. Kamui smiled at him, trying to be reassuring. “Let’s try this again: What’s up-”

 

“I’m sorry,” Silas interjected, his voice quivering. “I can’t believe I did that yesterday. I’m such an idiot. I’m so sorry.”

 

“It’s okay,” the princess tried to comfort him, but he kept going.

 

“It’s not. Jakob told me to stay away, but I did it anyways. I should have known he was right-”

 

“Jakob sees others as rebarbative at the best of times,” Kamui said calmly, putting her hand over his. “I heard everything in the stairwell. And while I know he only has my best interests at heart, it was out of line for Jakob to talk to you like that.”

 

The knight still looked miserable and guilty. She shook her head in exasperation. “Look, let’s not focus on that. Let’s just have a nice, platonic coze.”

 

He bit his lip. “I don’t know what that means.”

 

“A friendly chat. Honestly. Am I the only one with the word of the day app? Nobody educates themselves anymore…”

 

This earned her a small laugh from Silas, which she counted as a win. “Aha. There’s my best friend. Are we cool?”

 

She balled up her hand and held it out to him, tilting her head in question.

 

“Always,” Silas promised, returning her fist bump. 

 

Kamui wiggled her fingers and made a ‘psssh’ sound, imitating an explosion. Silas laughed again. “Though, um. I’d kind of like to know where we stand…”

 

“Romantically?” Kamui gave him a sad smile. “We’re a perfect fit, aren’t we? Childhood friends, separated by my crazy dad, a princess and her knight. Plus, the term ‘boy next door’ was pretty much made up for you.

 

“However…” she sighed. “I’m sorry, Silas. As much as I’d like to, I just can’t see you as anything more than an awesome friend.”

 

“Yeah. I thought so.” He glanced away sheepishly. “Like I said, I’m an idiot to think like that in the first place.”

 

“Hey. Hey, you.” Kamui grabbed his cheeks, squishing his face and forcing him to look at her. “Stop talking like that. My feelings aside, you’re still a total babe, and you rock the shy nerd vibe.  _ Quit doubting yourself.  _ Kapeesh?”

 

“Kapeesh,” Silas repeated, though it sounded a bit more like ‘kupsh’.

 

Kamui nodded. “Good Silas. Now you should probably leave, before Corrin gets back and starts saying weird shit.” 

 

She let go of his face and patted his head. “I love you. Platonically. But still. Remember that, got it?”

 

He stood, flashing her a small thumbs up before opening the door. “Got it.”

 

The princess flopped backwards on her bed as he left the room.  _ First crisis averted. Or solved or whatever. _

 

She glanced up at her corkboard, scanning the pictures pinned to it. At least half of them featured either Jakob or Silas, standing next to her.

  
_ Time to move on to the next one. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shit's burning. so much. burning.  
> you'll have to wait and see how Keaton and Kaden are though, muahaha >:3  
> THIS BRINGS ALL NEW MEANING TO THE TERM SLOW BURN 
> 
> anywho, my main pride of this chapter is Silas and Kamui's interaction. I was super cruel to our poor little knight in chapter 6, so I wanted to give him some closure with his crush. they're all cool, but he's still probably heartbroken. poor child. good thing Kaze's in this story.


	9. June 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In hopes of inciting the same ridiculous antics as at the beach, Corrin declares today an all-day barbecue out on the pool deck.   
> In the mountains, the aftermath of the fire doesn't have the kind of effect Ava planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whooAAAHHOOOHH  
> I actually finished an entire chapter in one day, go me~ ;v;   
> So hey,, I'm finally getting around to developing some of the relationships here! In this chapter, like, a handful of people actually get somewhere with each other. Yay them. *blows noisemaker* Friendships! More than friendships! Not-quite-hate! Celebrate with me, dangit!
> 
> I promise things are finally getting interesting. We're one chapter closer to the big climax I have planned for the 29th of June, which is already half-written because gosh I just couldn't resist it. (Hint hint: the hotel has a pretty good supply of alcohol~)
> 
> Anyways, enjoy the chapter! And feel free to give me any feedback you have! I'm so excited that we've got over 500 hits, my goal now is 1000! (oo, so ambitious).

“ _Uuugh._ ” 

 

Kamui kicked at the pavement, then winced as it scraped her toe. “Life sucks.”

 

"You suck,” Corrin deadpanned, his dark sunglasses only emphasizing the douchebaggery of the statement.

 

“Shut up, Cor. You don’t know what it’s like.”

 

“I have the sad pain of understanding you, sis. I’m an empath, after all.”

 

“I feel like if you call yourself an empath, you can’t  _ actually  _ be an empath. Like. I’m suddenly realizing how much I hate that word,” Kamui retorted, hopping on one foot to inspect her damaged toe. “Also, you don’t even know what I’m pissed about.”

 

Her brother held up three fingers. “One: you’re thinking about Azura still, despite how many brilliant distractions I have offered you. Two: Silas is acting really awkward around you, even though you guys apparently made up yesterday. Three: Jakob keeps giving you weird looks, and you don’t know why but you’re too much of a wimp to just ask him.” 

 

He put down each finger as he stated these things, still facing straight ahead at the other end of the dining room.

 

Kamui smacked his hand down. “Shut up!”

 

“I’m right, though.”

 

“I never said you weren’t,” she muttered, crossing her arms and glaring away.  “But you should shut up nonetheless.”

 

“Mmm. Even if I said I could help make one of those problems disappear?”

 

His sister’s head snapped back to him. “What?”

 

Corrin waved his finger in a lazy circle toward the scatter of tables. “Yesterday I told Jakob to leave Silas alone, because you wanted to let him down easily. He was super surprised to find out that you didn’t actually like the dude back, which is why he keeps looking at you weird. I guess he just figured it was a given.”

 

Kamui leaned on the counter beside him, narrowing her eyes at the butler as he said something haughty to Kaze. “But he said it himself yesterday- he told Silas I wasn’t interested. I mean, it wasn’t his to tell, but granted, I figured he just knew and wanted to get it through to him.”

 

Her twin tapped his fingers on the marble, whistling. “Yeah. I wonder why in the world he would lie? I mean. What would compel somebody to tell a guy who clearly likes you, and who is a great fit for you that you would probably go out with, that you don’t like him back? It’s almost like he wanted to keep him away from you. Can’t imagine why he’d do that.”

 

His sister glanced at him, then back at Jakob, then at him again.

 

“No way,” she whispered.

 

He just shrugged, smiling slightly.

 

“No  _ way! _ ” she squealed, shaking his shoulder. “Do you know anything? No way in heck!”

 

“What in hell’s name are you yelling about over there?” Selena snapped from across the room.

 

“Shove it back down your squawk-hole, Selena! You can’t drag me down with your whining!” Kamui retorted in a bout of excitement-fueled courage.

 

“Ooooo,” Niles murmured beside the redhead, who’s mouth was agape with shock at the sudden outburst. “She put you in your place. That’s what you get for provoking a princess.”

 

“On that note, I feel like this is gonna be a great day,” Corrin said, standing up. He pushed his shades up on the bridge of his nose and slammed his palm down on the counter. “Everyone out on the deck! We’re having a barbecue!”

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Prince Takumi.”

 

Takumi jumped, spinning around to face the speaker. “Do you ever greet people in a way that isn’t intended to scare them out of their wits?”

 

“And ruin my reputation?” Leo tilted his chin up in a prideful way. “What kind of man do you take me for, Prince Takumi?”

 

“That too. Do you have to include my full name  _ every single time _ you open your mouth?”

 

The Nohrian scoffed. “That’s not even your full name,  _ Prince Takumi of Hoshido _ . Is it so wrong to wish to address my equal in a formal manner?”

 

“So I’m your equal now?”

 

“For the sake of keeping the peace, I believe you are.”

 

Takumi rolled his eyes. “While I prefer the term superior, I suppose it’s a nice alternative to ‘tactless fool’.”

 

“Says the one who insisted on calling me ‘Nohrian scum’ for over two years.” Leo adjusted the clasp of his cloak (gods forbid he went out into this damned sun without protection). “Don’t try to act like the victim here.”

 

“Well. You started it.”

 

“When?”

 

“When we met, scum.”

 

“Back to square one. Honestly, I thought you were making progress towards civility,” Leo mocked. (Not that he would admit it, but the mocking of their back-and-forths was becoming more of a friendly tease.) (Not friendly.) (Because they weren’t friends.)

 

Corrin wandered over from the grill, where Kamui and Peri were squabbling about something. (Someone was always squabbling about something with this bunch). “Little bros! What nature of definitely-not-canoodling is going on in this corner of the patio?”

 

Leo gave him an unapproving once-over. “Corrin. Must you constantly speak with your mind so deep in the gutter?”

 

His adoptive brother took a sip from the can of diet coke in his hand, dismissing the harsh words easily. “Why is it that you’re willing to call me simply by my name, but not Takumi? The only other royal you still address like that is Ryoma, and I’m pretty sure that’s just some weird thing you have with him being a king.”

 

“It is not a ‘weird thing’,” Leo grumbled, “It is a matter of respect.”

 

“Then do you respect Takumi more than the others, or less? You’re so confusing, dude.” Corin pointed as best as he could with a metal can.

 

The Hoshidan prince elbowed Leo gently in the side, causing him to hiss and flinch away. “This is exactly what I was talking about just now. What’s with you?”

 

“Maybe it’s because I hate you.”

 

“You don’t hate him,” the Vallite laughed. “And if you say that one more time, I’m throwing you into the pool.”

 

“I’d like to see you try,” Leo snarled.

 

“If you say so.” Corrin snapped his fingers. “Kamui. You heard the guy.”

 

The blonde whipped around, anticipating a sneak attack that didn’t come. Instead, Corrin grabbed his arm and yanked it sharply backwards, stepping aside as the unbalanced prince fell backwards into the marble pool.

 

After a few moments Leo came up spluttering, wiping stinging chlorinated water out of his eyes. “Fuck you, Corrin. Fuck you so much.”

 

“De ja vu, brother dearest?” Camilla purred from where she perched on a pale maroon towel near the pool’s edge. Someone hooted, probably Niles. And poor Leo’s cloak was completely soaked (again).

 

He attempted to climb out of the pool, but to no avail, as the edge he had fallen in on was the tallest (and the slipperiest). He huffed and rested his chin on his arm, which lay on the marble rim, looking up at Takumi. “I don’t suppose you care to assist a fallen ally?”

 

“What ally?” Takumi asked innocently. “You hate me. I’m hardly one you’d want help from.”

 

Beside him, Corrin burst into snickers. “I rest my case.”

 

“What case?!” Leo demanded, trying to stand up straighter to glower at him only to slide back down with a splash.

 

His adoptive brother simply waved playfully at him and strode away, taking another sip of his diet coke.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The villages were gone.

 

The once-dense forest was now thick with ash, clouding the air with darkness and choking out those few living creatures who still remained in it. Once-thriving trees, the towering guardians of the tribes, had been reduced to blackened stumps and skeleton-like rampikes. Despite the intense waves of heat that the surges of flame had brought through the wreckage, a chill resonated deep in the heart of the forest. An all-too familiar chill, bringing back dark memories that  had been pushed into the corners of minds all those years ago. And the sickened remains of the woods felt almost seething with malice. The very roots of it knew that this massacre was no accident, and the unseen spirits of the it quivered with hatred for the soul that had harmed it so.

 

But trees have no tongues and no throats and no feet, and so they could do nothing but sit there, dying from lack of sunlight and air and water and emotion. There is nothing trees can do but sway in the breeze and weep to their unsung sorrows.

 

That, and they can listen.

 

“Keaton?”

 

“Here. Kaden?”

 

“Here. I just talked.”

 

“Oh. Right.”

 

The words came hushed from fear and rough from lack of use. 

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“I… I think so. Are you?”

 

There was a faint rustling as the kitsune felt along his arms, legs, face, and tail, inspecting himself for scars and burns. “Yeah… Ow, ow. No.”

 

Keaton scrambled to help him. “What? Where? How badly?”

 

“My tail is singed,” he whimpered, gently holding up the fluffy mass of orange. 

 

The wolfskin, just barely able to make out the outline in the shadow of the cave, kneeled to closer inspect the wound. “How much does it hurt?”

 

“Only a little,” Kaden mumbled, though his tone implied that it was more than that. 

 

Keaton frowned and stroked the once-sleek fur, careful to avoid the burn. “It’s all dusty and messy now…”

 

“Yeah. Yeah, but that doesn’t matter right now, does it?” 

 

Kaden swept his tail away, and his companion stood up, placing a reassuring hand on his arm. “Until we find the others and figure out what happened, I think that everything we’re able to control matters. Don’t you?”

 

“Everything we’re able to control?” He looked up in the black, and was only just able to see Keaton’s eyes. Their usually bright luster had dulled, but there was still a glimmer of something in them. Maybe he was right.

 

“Yeah. If you can still groom and stuff, then you should, right? Because if you can control that one little thing, you feel a little bit better about not being able to control all the other stuff.”

 

The kitsune nodded faintly. “Right. If I can make myself beautiful again, then I’m one step closer to getting stronger, right?”

 

“You’re already strong,” Keaton insisted.

 

Kaden laughed so quietly that it almost didn’t seem to happen.

 

“And you’re always beautiful, grooming or no grooming,” the wolfskin added, slowly, like he wasn’t sure if he should say it or not.

 

His hand slid down the other shapeshifter’s arm, until it reached his own. He twined their fingers together, squeezing gently. Kaden squeezed back.

 

“You really think so?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

He laughed again, stronger this time. “Yeah?”

 

Through the darkness, he knew Keaton was grinning in that dumb, adorable way of his.

 

“Yeah…”

 

Outside the cave, what few trees remained swayed wistfully in the mountain breeze.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Niles.”

 

The retainer glanced up from his phone, lounging lazily on a lawn chair. Seeing who had addressed him, he smirked and turned the device off. “Think of the devil. Here for a rematch?”

 

Hinata puffed his cheeks out indignantly. “Yes. But not in marco polo.”

 

“Color me intrigued.” Niles sat up, tossing his phone onto his towel. “So your challenge is?”

 

“I want to see who can hold their breath the longest.”

 

“Ooo, interesting,” the other man cooed (cooed, not an exaggeration), subtly brushing Hinata’s arm as he strode towards the pool. “Such a strange suggestion. Practicing for something?”

 

“It’s just the only thing I think I can beat you at easily,” the brunette admitted, tucking a stray clump of hair behind his ear.

 

Niles shrugged. “Whatever you say, sweetheart. We’ll see who wins this.”

 

He sat down at the edge of the flickering water, waiting patiently for Hinata to join him. The sun above them shone down with a searing intensity, making Niles almost relieved that the other retainer had proposed the rematch- he could stand to spend some time down in the chill of the pool rather than basking in the light like a cat (honestly, the only Nohrian who could manage to stay in the sun for an extended period of time without any discomfort was Camilla. Nobody knew how she dealt with it).

 

After a few moments Hinata appeared at his side, Kamui and Corrin trailing behind him.

 

“I’m the neutral judge,” she explained when Niles eyed her questioningly. “As the only person here who holds complete indifference to both parties, I keep track of how long you stay underwater.”

 

“I’m just bored,” Corrin said with a small shrug of his shoulders. “And anything involving Niles is bound to be interesting.”

 

“I can’t argue with that logic,” Niles agreed as he slipped down into the water, letting the discrete smell of chlorine wash over him. It was temperature-controlled, so it wasn’t too cold, but still effectively beat back the rolling summer heat. “How does this work?”

 

Hinata splashed in beside him. “When Kamui counts to three, we both duck under. Whoever stays down the longest wins.”

 

“On three or after three?” Corrin questioned, shifted from one foot to the other.

 

“On three,” Kamui said.”

 

“So, like, right when you say three? Or after you say two?”

 

His twin slapped his arm as he laughed. “Right when I say three, smartass. Now be quiet before I revoke your rights to spectate.”

 

“Oh, you’re no fun,” Corrin huffed, but sat down silently anyways

 

“Anyways.” Kamui cleared her throat and faced the two competitors, hands on her hips. “One… Two… Three!”

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

On the far side of the smooth-stoned pool deck, a shiny plastic beach ball rolled back and forth.

 

_ Fwip, fwip, fwip. _

 

This was the sound it made as it slapped someone’s palms, then was pushed back across the marble.

 

_ Fwip, fwip, fwip, fwah. _

 

Odin frowned as the ball bounced off of Laslow’s leg. “What’re you doing?”

 

Laslow had fallen onto his back, his arms crossed over his eyes. “While I greatly appreciate your staying out of the water for my sake, this is… rather dull.”

 

The dark mage dragged himself forward, until he was leaning over his friend. “If you feel the need to spit upon my benevolent altruism, then may I make a query as to why you’re avoiding the pool in the first place? You seemed to have no qualms about being in the sea.”

 

The dancer sat up again, drawing his knees in close to his torso. Odin instinctively moved back, falling onto his heels. “I can’t tell you, it would sound foolish.”

 

“Please, old friend. I’m already well aware that you’re quite foolish.”

 

“H-hey! No I’m not!” Laslow stammered, causing Odin to laugh. 

 

“In that case, there should be no issues in telling me.”

 

“You’re a horrible person, you know that?” he whined quietly.

 

“I, Odin Dark, horrible?” he pressed a hand to his chest dramatically. “I prefer the word insidious…”

 

Laslow kicked him in the knee, to no effect. Sighing, he hunched his shoulders and mumbled, “If you  _ must  _ know, I’m avoiding the pool because the chlorine messes up my hair for days.”

 

“ _ Ohhh. _ ” Odin tapped a finger to his lip thoughtfully. “In that case, I believe I have imagined a much more entertaining pastime.”

 

The dancer cocked his head. “What might it be?”

 

“Simply…”

 

Odin slammed his arm against Laslow, shoving him backwards into the blue. The assaulted squeaked  shrilly (gods spare him, why did he always have to do that? How embarrassing) as he toppled head-first, splattering his attacker and others on their side of the deck.

 

Hinata burst out of the water in surprise, looking around wildly. “What the heck was that?”

 

Niles popped up beside him, arms triumphantly in the air. “I win again!”

 

Kamui clapped politely from the sidelines while Corrin whooped. “Way to go, Odin! Totally distracted him!”

 

Laslow scrambled out of the pool, shaking droplets off like a dog, muttering curses under his breath at the blonde. Hinata slammed his hands down to his sides, sending up another spray of water that Niles had to dodge to avoid getting a faceful of chlorine. “No way! That’s so cheating, I demand another rematch!”

 

“Fine with me, but I’m still counting this as a second win.”

 

“Th-that’s not fair! I was tricked!”

 

“I did not trick you, it was merely a perk of my actions,” Odin declared, to which Laslow spluttered, “Actions that you shouldn’t have been committing in the first place!”

 

Outside of the ring of bickering, Selena took a sip of cherry iced tea, absentmindedly stirring the straw with her pinky finger. “They’re all so loud, aren’t they? How do they go on and on like that and still manage to be so close to each other.”

 

On the lounge chair at her left, Hana hugged her legs to her chest. “I think that their arguments are nice. It’s kind of like a reassurement that even though they don’t see eye-to-eye on everything, they can still get along and trust each other so deeply. It’s like being in a battle, you don’t have to agree with your partner, you just have to believe in them and fight by their side, y’know?” She said matter-of-factly.

 

To Selena’s right, Beruka glanced up from her book, giving Hana an undecipherable, questioning look, then went back to reading. Hana blinked, trying to figure out what the stare was for, but then Selena spoke again.

 

“I suppose you have a point. Still, you’d think they’d spent at least a  _ little  _ bit of time  _ not  _  yelling at each other.”

 

“Maybe…” 

 

They both gazed back at the difficult group. Odin had pushed Laslow back into the water, and he had retaliated by recruiting Elise’s help in dragging Odin in as well. Niles was trying to hold Hinata underwater, but Oboro had seen what was going on and was beating him down in an attempt to stop him. Takumi had jumped in as well to reign Oboro in, and Leo was yelling at both Odin and Niles, doing his best to calm them down from dry land. 

 

Meanwhile, Kamui and Corrin sat on the sidelines, whispering to each other and giggling every so often, while Sakura stood alongside them and kept an eye out to make sure nobody actually got seriously injured.

 

Odin managed to force Laslow down in the pool and sit on his back, holding him down. “Ah-ha! Another miraculous victory for Odin Da-AA!”

 

The dancer threw him off, spitting water out with disgust. Corrin yelled from a safe distance, “No drowning anyone, Odin!”

 

“Tell this idiot that!” Oboro spat, throwing another punch against Niles’ arm.

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

A barely- surfaced Hinata kicked him in shin, to no avail. “Liaaar!”

 

Hana hid her small laugh with a hand. “They really are a bunch of idiots, though, huh?”

 

“You can say that again.” Selena held out her cup in offer. “Want some?”

 

The brunette’s widened, her cheeks turning pink. “O-oh! Sure, thanks!”

 

She took a tiny sip, not daring to have too much lest she annoy the other retainer. “Wow, that’s really good.”

 

Selena tipped the glass back towards herself. “Yeah, it’s pretty nice. I know that iced tea is, like, a big thing in Hoshido, but I actually learned how to make it perfectly from my mother…”

 

She stirred the concoction again, the ice cubes clicking against the rim. “That’s not important, though. It’s hot as hell out here, and it seemed rude not to offer.”

 

“Yeah, uh, thanks again,” Hana said, averting her gaze so Selena wouldn’t see how red her face was. (Nevermind that fact that she didn’t seem the type to care whether she was being rude or not).  _ Stupid, stupid Hana! You’re a fighter of high class! Why are you so easily embarrassed?!  _ “I should probably get my own drink…”

 

“If you want, I can make you one,” the redhead offered blankly.

 

“Oh! If you don’t mind, yeah, that’d be super cool of you!”

 

“No problem. Anything to get away from this ruckus,” Selena said, standing up. “But you’re coming with me. Pay attention so you know how to make it, because I don’t want to have to constantly be catering on you.”

 

Hana followed her into the building. “Yup! Got it!”

 

Behind them, Corrin shoved Leo into the pool again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oKAY so a couple chapters ago,, I know I said that only two people were actually in love with anyone, but here's a flat-out statement of how everything is going so far.  
> "But Sin, you're spoiling it. isn't this supposed to be something we as readers figure out on our own?"  
> Well yea but ;-; I wanted to explain things because I'm not sure how well I've done so far. SO! Read the following at your own risk, only if you want a blatant understanding of all the relationships at this point rather than figuring them out just by reading.  
> uuugh i feel like I'm betraying the sacred rule of well-written romance by being so blunt like this, but I want to explain it anyways, because even I'm having trouble keeping track with all these couples.
> 
> S P O I L E R S~~~
> 
> We'll start with the couple this was originally going to be written for, Leokumi. (Yup, fun fact, my original plan was just going to be a small Leokumi fic, but then it branched to center around three couples, and now I'm just so hooked on everyone that they're all sharing the spotlight :'>) Leo and Takumi are becoming friends quickly, but there is really not any kind of romantic feelings between them yet. Leo is in denial that he could ever be friends with that insufferable Hoshidan pineapple, but Takumi (despite being the most hostile at first) is just kind of going with it.  
> Odin is totally in love with Laslow. (Probably has been for years). Laslow, while he himself is in denial, has a crush on Odin, but it's not a huge thing yet.  
> AAAA AS SEEN IN THIS CHAPTER,, Keaton and Kaden definitely have some kind of interest in each other. It's my belief that they were probably best friends since they met (whenever that actually canonically happened, but in this story it's since they were roughly 16), but slooowly fell in love throughout the war. Gods I am such a nerd for them, aaaa I'm so happy that I finally get to get into their relationship <3  
> Who's next... Niles is into Hinata, but I think his first impression was something along the lines of "here's an innocent dopey dude, I bet I can hook up with him and then mess with him~". He's slowly falling for him for real, meanwhile, Hinata is a silly little nerd with a silly little nerd crush that he isn't even aware of.  
> Kamui is aaalmost in love with Jakob, but she's kind of borderlining right now, since she's still a bit broken on Azura's death. Jakob doesn't have a crush on her (that's not the kind of word that suits him or his feelings). He's definitely attracted to her on some level though.  
> Corrin is totally in love with Subaki. Subaki is friendzoning him, but once I get around to talking about them more that won't be the case.  
> Silas and Kaze respect each other right now, but they don't really know each other yet. I'm working on that.  
> As seen, Hana has a huge crush on Selena. Selena thinks she's cool, so that's pretty high praise, they're on the right track.  
> Flora and Kagero are bros now. :3 I don't think Kagero is even aware that she's capable of liking girls yet, but Flora has probably seen her as a potential not terrible person, so she may be developing a small crush.. however, there's not much to say on them quite yet.  
> Who else is there?? Right, Peri and Oboro. They don't hate each other, but I think the real basis of their relationship will just stay as kind-of-buddies for a little while. sorry.
> 
> OKAY THE SPOILING IS DONE HOLY CRAP THAT'S A LOT
> 
> One more thing: I think I'm gonna include two more couples, only this time they'll be actual genuine already-with-each-other couples! (God, Sin, you have too many couples already.) (Shut up. I really want all of them to find love, okay? ;-;)  
> Felicia and Beruka are both still lonely, as is Saizo and most of the royals. If you've got any preferences towards who ends up together, please please pretty please let me know! I crave feedback like a mad animal. It is my drug :'D
> 
> All that said and done, thanks for reading this far! I so appreciate every single one of you so much for reading my story, and sticking it out to this point!


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